Dental health
Introduction
Oral health is an integral part of overall health; when children are not healthy this affects their ability to learn, thrive and develop.
Improving the oral health of children links to a key national policy: Getting the Best Start in Life, with poor oral health being a priority under Best Start in Life. The indicator showing the percentage of five year olds with experience of visually obvious dentinal decay allows benchmarking of oral health of young children across England, and is an excellent proxy measure of assessing the impact of the commissioning of oral health improvement programmes on the local community. Dental caries is a synonymous term for tooth decay.
Children's dental health
Key findings
Decayed, missing and filled teeth of five year old children (school year 2023/24)
In the Lancashire-12 area, the mean number of teeth per child with experience of dentinal decay, in all five year old children examined, is 0.9 and significantly higher than the England average of 0.8. Within the Lancashire-12 area this ranges from 0.5 in Fylde, Ribble Valley, Rossendale and Wyre to 1.6 and 1.8 in Pendle and Preston, respectively (2023/24 school year). [i]
In the Lancashire-12 area, 24.3% of five year olds are affected by visually obvious dental decay in 2023/24 school year, this is significantly higher than the England rate (22.4%).
In Pendle (39.4%), Preston (36.6%), Hyndburn (30.2%) and Burnley (28.9%) the percentage of five year olds affected by visually obvious dental decay in 2023/24 school year is significantly higher than the England rate. In Fylde (17.5%), Wyre (16.9%), South Ribble (16.3%) and Ribble Valley (16.0%) the percentage of five year olds affected by visually obvious dental decay in 2023/24 school year is significantly lower than the England rate.
In Blackburn with Darwen 34.8% of five year olds are affected by visually obvious dental decay and in Blackpool 32.1% are affected, both authorities are significantly higher than the England rate.
Hospital admissions for dental caries (0-5 years), 2022/23 - 2024/25
At the authority level, Lancashire-12 recorded a hospital admission rate for dental caries of 396.4 per 100,000 children aged 0 to 5 years, significantly higher than the England rate of 211.7 per 100,000. Blackburn with Darwen (501.8) and Blackpool (832.0) also reported rates significantly higher than England average. Within Lancashire-12, all districts except Rossendale, Chorley, and Ribble Valley had significantly higher hospital admission rates for dental caries among children aged 0 to 5 years compared with England.
For additional county and unitary data and further information please see below. Please select the geography type to see what indicators are available as not all are provided across the different footprints.
Page updated October 2026