Suffering children face surge in tooth extractions

Paediatric operations to pull teeth have fallen 58pc leaving many in pain as ‘dental deserts’ grow

A COLLAPSE in access to dental care for children during the pandemic has left tens of thousands in pain with rotten teeth and will result in a record number of extractions, experts have warned.

Figures show the number of operations on children to remove teeth fell by 58 per cent in 2020-21, as hospitals concentrated on Covid pressures.

Dentists said the figures did not reflect a fall in demand for the procedures – which take place in hospital under general anaesthetic – instead showing the impact of lack of access to such care during the pandemic. It follows warnings of “dental deserts” in some parts of the country, with patients struggling to find dentists taking new NHS patients in Somerset.

The British Dental Association urged ministers to act decisively to deal with the backlogs.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities data shows 14,615 extractions were performed on decayed teeth in 2020-21, among patients aged up to 19. This compares with 35,190 such procedures in the same age group the year before the pandemic.

Charlotte Waite, chairman of the British Dental Association’s England community dental services committee said: “Tooth extractions among children have collapsed but the level of demand hasn’t gone anywhere. Covid has simply left tens of thousands in pain, potentially waiting years for treatment which they desperately need.”

The BDA urged health officials to provide “full disclosure” on the waiting times children are now facing, and a properly funded plan to catch up.

Dr Waite said: “Government has yet to offer real clarity on the scale of the backlog, or a credible plan to tackle it.”

The data shows children from the poorest areas are three times more likely to have extractions than those from the most affluent communities.

More than 12.5 million NHS dental appointments for children have been lost in England since lockdown, figures suggest. It comes as patients in Somerset say they are being left in agony and facing bills of more than £1,000, as they are driven into the private sector by the absence of check-ups and treatment.

Patients’ groups said they had been told there were no NHS dentists available across the county, in what is said to be England’s worst “dental desert”.

Healthwatch Somerset said a third of the calls it received in the three months to February were about problems accessing NHS dentistry – many concerning children, pregnant women and people who cannot afford private care.

Gill Keniston-goble, a manager at the patient champion organisation, said that in England’s eighth largest county: “People are telling us they have called many dentists but cannot find one taking new patients.”