Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) is carried out every ten years, and investigates people's dental health, their experiences of dental care and their access to dental services. The survey results provide important information about the dental health of the nation. This information helps health authorities to effectively plan local dental services and shows the extent to which government dental health targets are being met. The results from the different surveys can be compared to allow changes over time to be understood.

The first survey was conducted in 1968 in England and Wales. Similar surveys were also conducted in Scotland in 1972 and in Northern Ireland in 1979. The second ADHS was conducted in England and Wales in 1978. None of these earlier surveys are available from the UK Data Archive. The third survey was conducted in 1988 and was extended to include adults in Scotland and Northern Ireland providing estimates for the whole of the United Kingdom (available from the Archive under SN 2834). The fourth was conducted in 1998 (available under SN 4226) and also covered the whole of the UK. The latest survey in the series took place in 2009 and was carried out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland only (available under SN 6884).

The aim of the Adult Dental Health, 1988 was to produce data on the dental health of adults aged 16 and over in the UK, in particular to enable comparisons with data from previous surveys of dental health. For the first time the survey was extended to include adults in Scotland and Northern Ireland providing estimates for the whole of the UK.
Main Topics:

Variables: Condition of the natural teeth and supporting tissues; dentures; dental experiences, attitudes, knowledge and care.