Overview of key data sources: National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) - 2003-present

Organisation responsible: This programme of surveys is managed by the Scottish Dental Epidemiology Co-ordinating Committee (SDECC). It is carried out under the auspices of the Committee of Chief Administrative Dental Officers/Consultants in Dental Public Health Group (CADO/CDPH Scotland Group). It is a joint venture between all fifteen (fourteen from 2006) Scottish NHS Boards and the Dental Health Services Research Unit based at the University of Dundee.

Background and purpose: Following a review by the Chief Dental Officer of the existing schemes and processes related to dental inspection of children at school in Scotland (eg Scottish Health Boards' Dental Epidemiological Programme (SHBDEP) surveys), and in accordance with the framework outlined in the NHS Scotland Act 1978 and the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, NDIP was set up in 2002. Its principal aims are: to gather appropriate information in order to inform children (and parents) of their dental/oral health status; and, through appropriately anonymised, combined data, advise the Scottish Executive, NHS Boards, Trusts and other organisations concerned with children's health of the oral disease prevalence in their area.

Survey years/frequency: From 2003: Basic inspection: annual, for both Primary 1 and 7.  Detailed inspection: Primary 1 and 7 in alternate years.

Please note that the NDIP survey reports relate to the school year (eg 2003/04), but as the dental examinations were carried out in the latter part of the school year, that is the year shown in all charts on this ScotPHO website (eg 2004 in this example).

Survey content:

The Basic Inspection of the NDIP programme aims to inform the parents/carers of individual P1 and P7 children by letter of the oral health of their child. These letters record the principal clinical findings of the dental inspection of the child and convey the degree of urgency with which an appointment for attendance at a dentist is suggested.

One of three possible letters is sent but all inform the parents about the state of dental health seen in their child at the time of the school inspection. These letters vary slightly depending on whether a P1 or a P7 child has been inspected. The three letters are as follows:

• Letter A - should seek immediate dental care on account of severe decay or abscess.
• Letter B - should seek dental care in the near future due to one or more of the following: presence or history of decay, a broken or damaged front tooth, tooth wear, poor oral hygiene or may require orthodontics (P7 only).
• Letter C - no obvious decay experience but they should continue to see the family dentist on a regular basis.

The results of the Basic Inspection are then anonymised and aggregated. They are used to monitor the impact of both local and national oral health improvement programmes, and to assist in the development of local dental services.

The Detailed Inspection is a more rigorous and comprehensive assessment, which involves recording the status of each tooth surface in accordance with international epidemiological conventions.

The specific goals of the detailed inspection are: to determine current levels of established tooth decay; to obtain a simple measure of the level of oral cleanliness; and to analyse the impact of deprivation on dental health.

Target population: School children in local authority (not private) schools in Scotland, at two key school years: at entry into school in Primary I (around 5 years old), and in Primary 7 before the move to secondary education (around 11 years old).

Sample size: Over 10,000 children in Scotland have a Detailed inspection each year, while the aim is for all children in the target population to have a Basic inspection.

Percentage sampled: Around 25% of Primary 1 children had a Detailed inspection in 2008, and around 21% of Primary 7 children in 2007. Also in 2008, 87% of Primary 1 children and 83% of Primary 7 children had a Basic inspection.

Method of data collection: Data is collected by trained and calibrated Community Dental Service (CDS) dentists, who follow a standard oral examination procedure for children. The examinations take place in schools. Data is entered directly into laptop computers.

Smallest geographical unit reported:
Basic inspection: NHS Board; Community Health Partnership; school; individual (direct feedback to parents).
Detailed inspection: NHS Board; postcode sector (for analyses by deprivation level using the Carstairs deprivation category (McLoone, 1994)).

Availability of results and further information: All survey publications are available from the Dental Health Services Research Unit, University of Dundee and Scottish Dental.