Third of children have rotting teeth aged 5

PROBLEM WORSE IN DEPRIVED AREAS

ONE in three children in Greater Manchester already has tooth decay by the age of five.

In 2019, 35.4 per cent of fiveyear-olds in the area included in the Public Health England survey of children’s teeth had evidence of tooth decay.

Oldham had the highest proportion of children with tooth decay, affecting two in five (43.2pc), while levels were lowest in Stockport at 22pc.

Those children with tooth decay in Greater Manchester had an average of around four rotten teeth each, although this was around three in Stockport, Tameside and Wigan, but an average of 4.6 in Manchester.

A small proportion of children (1.2pc) were found to have mouth infections, most likely due to tooth decay, including as many as 3.2pc in Stockport.

As well as this, 3.6pc of fiveyear-olds already had substantial plaque in Greater Manchester, including 16.6pc of children in Trafford and 13.2pc in Salford.

The survey found most of the decay was going untreated – only one in 11 decayed teeth (9.0pc) had been filled, while 7.6pc of decayed teeth had been removed. Extraction of teeth in young children often involves admission to hospital and a general anaesthetic.

In the report on the figures, PHE said: “Dental decay among young children remains an important public health issue as it leads to pain and distress, sleepless nights for children and parents, and time off school and work.

“Measuring dental decay levels among five-year-olds can give early indication of the success, or otherwise, of interventions aimed at improving the oral and general health of very young children including those designed to improve parenting, children’s weight or overall health or diet.”

Across England, 23.4pc of five-year-old children whose parents gave consent for participation in this survey had experience of dental decay.

This was similar to the 23.3pc of children with decay in 2017.

However, this was the first rise since the survey began – previously levels of dental decay has fallen from 30.9pc in 2008, 27.9pc in 2012 and from 24.8pc in 2015. A third of children from more deprived areas (34.3pc) had decay, more than double the rate for children from less deprived areas (13.7pc).

Among those with decay, the average number of rotten teeth was 3.4. The survey is carried out in schools, with trained clinicians carrying out a visual examination of teeth for a sample of children.

This means levels of tooth decay could be even higher, as only visually obvious decay was recorded, not any that was below the surface.