National dental inspection programme

About this release

This annual publication from Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents findings from the 2024/25 National Dental Inspection Programme, referred to as 2025 throughout this report. The programme monitors children’s oral health and supports both national and local planning.

All Primary 1 (P1, age 5) and Primary 7 (P7, age 11) pupils are offered a Basic Inspection each year. In addition, a Detailed Inspection is conducted on a representative sample, alternating between P1 and P7 pupils. In 2025, the Detailed Inspection was carried out for P7 pupils.

Main points

• In 2025, 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, comparable to 0.36 in 2023.
• Since 2005, obvious decay experience has declined, although this downward trend appears to have plateaued since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Oral health inequalities remain: in 2025, 71.4% of children living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas had no obvious decay experience, compared to 89.6% in the least deprived areas. Deprivation is measured using Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).

Line chart showing the percentage of P7 children in Scotland with no obvious decay experience from 2005 to 2025. The proportion increased steadily from 52.9% in 2005 to 81.9% in 2023, with a dip to 81.5% in 2025.

Close

Trends in the percentage of P7 children in Scotland with no obvious decay experience, 2005-2025^1-3

1. NDIP did not take place in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic public health measures.
2. Note: “No obvious decay experience” means no decayed, missing (due to decay), or filled teeth (D³MFT = 0).
3. All figures in the bullet points above are weighted to reflect the wider P7 population, except for the SIMD figures, which are unweighted and reflect only the children inspected.

Background

The main purpose of NDIP is to inform parents and carers about their children's oral health. In addition, aggregated and anonymised data supports national and local planning by helping the Scottish Government, NHS Boards, and other organisations monitor oral disease and target improvement efforts.

The programme focuses on P1 and P7 pupils in Local Authority schools. All children in these groups are offered a Basic Inspection each year, which includes a check of all teeth (both primary and permanent, where present). The Detailed Inspection is a more comprehensive assessment that focuses solely on permanent teeth and is designed to gather data to support the evaluation of oral health across the wider population.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 20 October 2026 (Detailed Inspection of P1 children).