Children in deprived areas more likely to have tooth decay, figures show

Children living in the most deprived parts of Scotland continue to be much more likely to experience tooth decay than their counterparts in the least deprived areas, statistics have shown.

Some 71.4% of children living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas had no obvious decay in 2025, compared to 89.6% in the least deprived areas.

The report said while year-on-year improvements have been made since 2011, the most recent data suggests progress has stalled.

The National Dental Inspection Programme also found an estimated 81.5% of P7 children in Scotland had no signs of obvious dental decay, similar to the 2023 figure of 81.9%.

The average number of teeth affected by obvious decay was estimated at 0.40, slightly above the 0.36 figure recorded in 2023.

Since 2005, obvious decay has declined but the report stated the downward trend appears to have plateaued since the Covid pandemic.

Public health minister Jenni Minto said: “I am pleased to see latest figures show almost 82% of P7 children have no obvious tooth decay, with the longer term trend showing significant improvements in child oral health inequality since 2005.

“The difference in the percentage of P7 children with no obvious decay in the most and least deprived areas has decreased from 32.1 percentage points in 2011 to 23.3 in 2025.

“This shows the success of our flagship Childsmile programme and is testament to the hardworking dental teams across the country.

“I recognise there is still work to do, which is why we continue to invest in Childsmile, including additional annual funding of £1.85 million to support the recruitment of additional dental health support workers who work directly with more vulnerable communities.”