The Welsh Oral Health Information Unit (WOHIU) provides high-quality, independent expertise in oral health intelligence.
We collaborate with Public Health Wales and Community Dental Services to plan and deliver national oral health surveys which produce authoritative data on the oral health of children and adults to support policy and service planning.
Aims
Our unit is commissioned via Public Health Wales to provide:
- independent professional advice
- quality assurance
- data cleaning
- data verification
- data analysis
- reporting service
Projects
Oral epidemiology programme
We produce authoritative data on children’s and adults’ oral health, trends, and inequalities across Wales.
The surveys that we plan and deliver follow British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) guidance.
Survey of children in school year one
Building upon the 2022/23 all-Wales survey, the 2024/25 inspection gathered clinical data on the prevalence and severity of caries within a sample of year one school children from across Wales, between Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025:
| Age group | Year of survey | Document |
|---|---|---|
| 5 year olds | 2024/25 | Survey report |
| 5 year olds | 2024/25 | National infographic |
| 5 year olds | 2022/23 | Survey report |
| 5 year olds | 2022/23 | National infographic |
A survey was also undertaken in 2015/16, and further information about this can be found below:
| Age group | Year of survey | Document |
|---|---|---|
| 5 year olds | 2015/16 | Survey report |
| 5 year olds | 2015/16 | Survey protocol |
| 5 year olds | 2015/16 | Data report |
Survey of children in school year seven
In 2023/24 we worked with Public Health Wales and the NHS Community Dental Service to assess the oral health of over 6,000 children aged between 11 and 12 years old across Wales, as part of a regular programme of oral health surveillance.
| Age group | Year of survey | Document |
|---|---|---|
| 12 year olds | 2023/24 | Survey report |
| 12 year olds | 2023/24 | National infographic |
A survey was also undertaken in 2016/17, and further information about this can be found below:
| Age group | Year of survey | Document | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 year olds | 2016/17 | Survey report | |
| 12 year olds | 2016/17 | Survey protocol | |
| 12 year olds | 2016/17 | Data report |
Survey of older people living in care homes
In 2025/26 we are running a survey of the oral health of older people living in care homes. This is due to report in early 2027.
Meet our team
Archived annual reports
Oral epidemiology programme annual reports
| Age group | Year of survey | Report |
|---|---|---|
| Three year olds | 2013/14 | Full report |
| Five year olds | 2014/15 | Full report |
| Five year olds | 2011/12 | Data report |
| Five year olds | 2007/08 | Data report |
| Five year olds | 2005/06 | Full report |
| Five year olds | 2003/04 | Full report |
| Twelve year olds | 2012/13 | Full report |
| Twelve year olds | 2008/09 | Full report |
| Twelve year olds | 2004/5 | Full report |
| 18-25 year olds | 2020 | Full report |
| 18-25 year olds | 2019 | Full report |
Wales Care Home Dental Survey
The 2010-2011 survey of care home residents in Wales followed on from the 2006-2007 survey of care home managers by examining a sample of residents to obtain data on prevalence of dental diseases, the types of interventions they could benefit from and the difficulties in delivering the dental care required.
It was designed to be a supplementary survey to the national Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) 2009 and wherever possible used the same methodological criteria.
The report is intended to support local health boards in Wales to use information from the survey to plan dental service provision.
Next steps
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