The study, Children's Dental Health in the United Kingdom 2003, found that children living in households with a lower socio-economic status were more prone to tooth decay than their peers.
In households categorised as "managerial and professional", 23 per cent of 15-year-olds had decay. This compares with 37 per cent in "intermediate" households, and 33 per cent in "routine and manual" households. For 12-year-olds, the figures followed a similar pattern, with 22 per cent of children having tooth decay in affluent homes, compared with 29 per cent in intermediate and 27 per cent in routine and manual.
The researchers also looked at levels of decay according to the deprivation index of the school the young people went to. Just over a third of 12-year-olds in deprived schools had decay, compared with 28 per cent in non-deprived schools. For 15-year-olds, 42 per cent in deprived schools had decay, compared with 30 per cent in non-deprived schools. The researchers also found that treatment was likely to be limited for children from poorer families, with removal of teeth being a more common option.
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