Children’s teeth in a state of DECAY

23,000 bad teeth removed in a year

DENTISTS across Northern Ireland pulled 23,035 bad teeth from the mouths of 4,724 children under general anaesthetic in just one year.

And 20,566 of those were actually “baby teeth” rotten before they had a chance to fall out naturally.

Northern Ireland’s British Dental Association director Tristen Kelso said dentists can’t tackle the issue alone.

So with just one in five under 15s considered to have good oral health in the UK’S worst performing region, experts are gathering for an Oral Health Matters conference today to see what can be done.

Mr Kelso told the Mirror: “There is £12.3million sugar levy money coming here and it goes into a black hole. We did FOI requests asking where that money is being spent and all they could say is, ‘it is not hypothecated’. In England you see that money going to schools to be spent on kids healthy eating and breakfast clubs – but our breakfast clubs are actually being cut at the same time.

“We have also been told that not a single extra penny has been spent on child public health as a result of the sugar levy – so it is not being spent in the spirit for which it was meant.

“We are calling for new targets, new vision and new energy around this because we are not seeing a whole lot of improvement happening.

“We have huge problems that need to be addressed both on the child side and also among the oldest of our population

“We want to turn the page on oral health. Dentists can’t do this on their own.”

BY GUM.. Northern Ireland has worst oral health in UK