Guidance

National Dental Epidemiology Programme: oral health survey resources

Updated 20 August 2025

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oral-health-survey-guidance/national-dental-epidemiology-programme-oral-health-survey-resources

The National Dental Epidemiology Programme (NDEP) is a programme of annual oral health surveys. The surveys are co-ordinated by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Responsibility for commissioning the surveys lies with upper tier local authorities.

Information from the surveys is vital to inform oral health needs assessments at a local level. NHS trusts and local authority commissioners use the information as part of the commissioning cycle when planning and evaluating local health services and health improvement interventions.

The surveys are conducted to standards set by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD). These standards help to ensure the quality and generalisability of the findings of the surveys. The local authorities that participate in the surveys commission dental providers to undertake the fieldwork according to a national protocol.

The Dental public health epidemiology workspace contains the following folders:

  • oral health survey fieldwork resources
  • oral health survey training resources
  • local oral health profiles - this folder contains the most recent local authority oral health profiles of 5 year old children 2022

Fieldwork resources

The oral health survey fieldwork resources folder contains:

Training resources

The oral health survey training resources folder contains:

  • Training and calibration guide for oral health surveys of children
  • Appendix 1: calibration agreement to participate (editable pdf)
  • Deciduous dentition OHID revised BASCD caries training pack
  • Permanent dentition OHID revised BASCD caries training pack
  • Training the recorders resources
  • Care home survey training - this folder contains the training files for care home surveys
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