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Oral Health

Man and child brushing teeth

Oral health and general health are linked. Smoking, diet, alcohol use and income all have a strong influence and poor oral health can be largely prevented. The oral health of Scotland’s primary school aged children has been improving. However, for older generations there is still the legacy of poor dental hygiene and diet and there is no annual survey for adults at a Midlothian level.

Adult oral health in Scotland has improved. The number of people reporting no natural teeth has reduced. On the other hand 11% of adults reported they had experienced dental pain in the past year, 27% felt they needed treatment and 25% had noticed bleeding from their gums occasionally or often.
In the same survey 72% of adults in Scotland reported they had visited the dentist in the past year but 23% reported significant difficulties in accessing dental care which included physical access issues, cost of treatment and travel and difficulty in getting appropriate appointments.

One in five of the population of Scotland aged 75 years or more are not registered with an NHS dentist.