26,000 kids go to hospital with rotten teeth

GROWING numbers of children with tooth decay are being admitted to hospital, damning figures show.

more than 26,000 children aged five to nine were taken to hospital in the past year because of rotten teeth, the NHs figures show – twice as many as those who required treatment for tonsillitis.

the nation’s sugar obsession is playing havoc with our teeth, as well as fuelling rising levels of childhood obesity.

the Royal college of surgeons said it was a national disgrace that so many young children needed tooth extraction. spokesman Professor michael Escudier said: ‘it is disappointing that we haven’t seen the same improvement in the number of children aged five to nine being admitted to hospital for dental decay as we have for other age groups.

‘When you consider that tooth decay is 90 per cent preventable and NHs dental treatment is free for all under-18s, it is disgraceful that so many children in their early years of school are suffering.’