Adult Oral Health Survey 2023: Privacy notice

Who is carrying out this survey?

NatCen, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, Kings College London, University College London and Newcastle University have been asked by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, part of the Department of Health and Social Care, to carry out this survey.

The lawful basis for collecting this data is the performance of a task carried out in the public interest and is necessary for the exercise of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ functions as a government department. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is the data controller for the study. NatCen are data processors on the study, processing the data collected so that it can be used for research, while ensuring that it will not be possible to identify any participants in the data.

What is the study about?

The survey covers a range of questions related to topics on oral health and behaviours, and attitudes to dental services. There will be a dental examination of teeth and gums.

Do I have to take part?

Taking part is voluntary. The success of the survey depends on the goodwill of those asked to take part. The more people who do take part, the more useful the results will be.

You are free to withdraw from the survey at any time without giving a reason. Once the survey results have been published, we would not be able to change the results by removing individual information. However, you can request that your personal data is deleted at any time by contacting NatCen using the details below.

What will happen to any information I give?

We will handle your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The survey findings are anonymised and nothing we publish will be used to identify you or your household. The results collected will be used for research and statistical purposes only.

Personal identifiers that can be used to identify you (such as your name and address) will be stored separately from your survey answers. Personal identifiers will not be shared outside NatCen, unless you agreed to have your survey answers linked to other datasets or if you agree to be contacted about future research studies. You are free to withdraw from the survey at any time and you can request that your personal data such as name and address and your answers to the interview questions are deleted at any time from the data we hold. However, once the survey results (which do not identify you) have been published and/or the dataset has been made available to other researchers as outlined in this notice, we would not be able to change the results by removing individual information. 

To do this, please get in contact with NatCen using the contact details provided below.

Linking survey answers to other information? 

We will ask for your consent to link your survey answers with your NHS information held by NHS England. This would let us add information to your survey answers about primary care, in-patient and out-patient hospital care, and mental health services data.

Linking the data enhances survey responses and provides researchers with a more in-depth understanding of the oral health of the population of England which can be used to further improve oral health services.

You do not have to consent to linking your data and can still take part in the survey if you do not consent to data linkage.

If you agree, your name, address, and date of birth, but no other information, will be passed to authorised individuals at NHS England. Once the data have been linked, personal information will be removed. The information will not identify you and it cannot be used by anyone treating you as a patient. You can cancel this permission at any time by contacting NatCen or NHS England. 

Your personal data will only be accessed by certain members of NatCen and the Adult Oral Health research teams and NHS England. Access to the data for other qualified researchers can only be granted by the NHS England’s, Data Access Review Service (DARS). The information will be completely confidential and will be used for research purposes only by academic or policy researchers under restricted access arrangements which make sure that the information is used responsibly and safely. All researchers will need to comply with data protection legislation.

Follow-up studies?

In the future, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities may also want to contact you about other follow-up research. We will only invite you to take part in follow-up research if you give agreement for this during the interview.  If we contact you in the future, you will be able to decide whether you want to participate in that research study at the time. If you want to remove your consent to be re-contacted for future studies, you can contact NatCen using the contact details below.

Contact us

If you have any queries, or want to request that we change or delete your information, contact us: 

The Adult Oral Health Survey
Kings House, 101-135 Kings Road, 
Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4LX 
Tel: 0800 526 397 
Email: info@natcen.ac.uk