Daily operations to remove rotten teeth in children rising

Councils have warned of a potential post-coronavirus surge of dental treatments following the lifting of lockdown.

New figures, from the latest NHS spending data, shows that there were 44,685 extractions of multiple teeth in under-18s in England in 2018/19 at a cost of £41.5 million. This is equal to 177 per working day, an increase of 17 per cent compared to the 38,208 extractions in 2012/13, which cost £27.4 million.

The Local Government Association says that the stark numbers highlight the dangers of too much sugary food and drink in youngsters’ diets, as well as poor oral hygiene, which is likely to have worsened during the last few months, while children and teenagers have been stuck indoors. They also warn that the closing of schools and early year settings due to the pandemic may have caused loss of supervised brushing time and fewer opportunities to educate young children and parents about good oral health.

The LGA is calling for councils’ prevention efforts to be fully funded to help keep children’s teeth healthy, including reversing a reduction of more than £700 million in the public health grant to councils between 2015/16 and 2019/20. The public health grant to councils should also be increased to at least £3.9 billion a year by 2024/25, so it matches the growth in overall NHS funding, as part of the NHS Long-Term Plan.

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “These latest figures demonstrate the damage which can be done to young people’s teeth through too much sugar intake. The fact that, due to the severity of the decay, 177 operations a day to remove multiple teeth in children and teenagers have to be done in a hospital is concerning and also adds to current pressures on the NHS.

“We need to do all we can to reduce how much sugar our children eat and drink, including investing in oral health education so that everyone understands the impact of sugar on teeth and the importance of a good oral hygiene regime. Untreated dental care remains one of the most prevalent diseases affecting children and young people’s ability to speak, eat, play and socialise.”