Hundred children a day have teeth taken out in hospital due to decay
ALMOST NINE out of 10 tooth extractions in hospital for very young children are for rotting teeth, figures show, with parts of Yorkshire among the worst-affected areas.
Children aged five and under accounted for 14,545 tooth extractions in 2017/18 in England, with most of those – 12,783 – being for tooth decay. Older children were also affected. Among all children aged up to the age of 19, some 38,385 procedures were carried out to remove decaying teeth, although this was down on the 39,010 carried out the year before.
Nevertheless, about 105 children per day have their teeth removed in hospital because of tooth decay that is preventable. Public Health England (PHE) is urging parents to watch their children’s sugar intake. It said most youngsters were having around eight cubes of sugar more per day than the recommended limit of five cubes.
Dr Sandra White, the dental lead for PHE, said: “Parents can help reduce their children’s sugar intake by making simple swaps when shopping and making sure their children’s teeth are brushed twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.”
The British Dental Association (BDA), which also looked at the NHS data, said it showed that children in parts of Yorkshire and the North-West are up to five times more likely to undergo hospital extractions than the national average. The worst affected areas include Rotherham, Sheffield, Preston and Blackpool.
Doncaster has England’s highest rates of extractions, with more than five times the national average of six to 10-year-olds undergoing the procedure. The BDA said the figures are likely understate the true scale of the problem owing to data gaps.
The BDA’s chairman Mick Armstrong said: “Children’s oral health shouldn’t be a postcode lottery, but these figures show just how wide the oral health gap between rich and poor has become.”
Meanwhile, the number of children in Leeds suffering from tooth decay has reduced by almost quarter in just 10 years, a Leeds City Council report has claimed. The report claimed the fall is because children are consuming fewer sugary drinks.
The report will go before the council’s children and families scrutiny committee today.