The accuracy of parent/carer proxy-reporting of caries experience in children and association with socioeconomic circumstances: a cross-sectional data linkage study.

Parent/carer proxy-reporting of caries experience in 5-year-old children had very low sensitivity and was lowest in children from the least deprived areas. In contrast, parents/carers who reported their child had caries experience did so reasonably accurately. This study concludes that proxy reporting caries experience is not sufficiently sensitive to replace clinician examination in assessing dental caries experience in surveys of child populations and highlights the importance of data linkage to routine datasets.