NHS spends £165m removing children’s teeth

THERE WERE nearly 43,000 hospital operations to remove teeth in children and teenagers last year – equating to 170 a day, the latest figures show.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said the alarming figures – up by nearly a fifth in the past four years – are likely to reflect young people’s excessive consumption of sugary food and drink, as well as poor oral hygiene. Its analysis of NHS spending data shows there were 42,911 extractions of multiple teeth in under-18s in England in 2016/17 at a cost of £36.2m.

This amounts to a 17 per cent increase on the 36,833 in 2012/13, with the total cost to the NHS for these operations since 2012 reaching £165m.

Tooth extraction has to be carried out in a hospital rather than at a dentist when the severity of the tooth decay means that it has to be undertaken under general anaesthetic.

The LGA said further action is needed to tackle the amount of sugar that is being consumed and has long called for measures such as reducing the amount in soft drinks and introducing teaspoon labelling on food packaging.

Councillor Izzi Seccombe, chairwoman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “These figures, which have risen sharply, show that we have an oral health crisis and highlight the damage that excessive sugar intake is doing to young people’s teeth.”