The Scottish Health Survey: Volume 1: Main Report

Table 2.2 Daily actions taken by people with some natural teeth to improve dental health, 2009, by age and sex

Aged 16 and over with some natural teeth
2009

Daily actions taken	Age							Total
	16-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65-74	75+	Total
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Men with natural teeth ^a
Brush teeth with fluoride toothpaste	97	96	97	95	97	89	94	96
Use dental floss	11	11	24	18	16	17	21	17
Use mouth rinse	41	37	44	38	33	26	31	37
Restrict intake of sugary foods and drinks	15	22	29	27	24	12	11	22
Clean dentures (including soaking with a sterilising tablet)	-	1	3	9	18	32	36	9
Leave dentures out at night	-	1	1	5	5	15	19	4
None of these	2	4	2	3	-	1	2	2
Women with natural teeth ^a
Brush teeth with fluoride toothpaste	100	99	98	98	98	91	98	98
Use dental floss	25	28	39	43	35	34	27	34
Use mouth rinse	44	45	45	44	38	31	29	42
Restrict intake of sugary foods and drinks	22	31	33	33	31	20	21	29
Clean dentures (including soaking with a sterilising tablet)	1	1	4	9	21	39	38	11
Leave dentures out at night	1	1	2	6	9	20	34	7
None of these	-	1	1	1	1	3	1	1
Adults with natural teeth ^a
Brush teeth with fluoride toothpaste	98	97	98	97	98	90	96	97
Use dental floss	18	19	32	31	25	25	24	25
Use mouth rinse	42	41	45	41	35	29	30	39
Restrict intake of sugary foods and drinks	18	27	31	30	28	16	17	26
Clean dentures (including soaking with a sterilising tablet)	1	1	3	9	19	35	37	10
Leave dentures out at night	0	1	2	6	7	17	28	6
None of these	1	3	1	2	0	2	1	1
Bases (weighted):
Men	186	186	209	206	167	99	45	1099
Women	173	193	233	225	167	95	65	1152
All adults	359	380	442	432	334	194	110	2251
Bases (unweighted):
Men	100	146	184	200	161	122	69	982
Women	131	202	259	243	194	113	80	1222
All adults	231	348	443	443	355	235	149	2204

a This category includes some people who have both dentures and natural teeth

Page updated: Thursday, September 23, 2010

Scottish Government