Improving patient awareness of caries

Dental caries is extremely common. Just under one in three (31%) British adults have obvious tooth decay in either the roots or crowns of their teeth. 1
Despite this, awareness of dental caries remains low in the population. 2
New research we commissioned alongside Colgate gives us an insight into the population’s knowledge of caries. The key findings are:
The UK’s awareness around the factors that increase a person’s risk of dental caries is poor. The below table shows which factors patients believe can increase their risk of tooth decay. 2



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Knowledge about how to prevent caries is also concerning. The graph below shows what patients believe are the most effective ways to prevent tooth decay. 2



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There also seems to be confusion around the role of fluoride. The table below demonstrates what patients believe fluoride helps prevent. Nearly one-in-five (19%) do not associate ...