The Faculty of Dental Surgery has welcomed the decrease but cautioned there is still a long way to go in improving children’s oral health in England.
Tooth extraction remains the number one procedure carried out on children aged five to nine in hospital, according to Faculty of Dental Surgery analysis of Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity for England in 2015/16. The majority of these were multiple tooth extractions. Dental caries is still the leading cause of hospital admissions for five to nine year olds with 25,875 admissions in 2015/16.
By comparison, the next most common reason for admission to hospital for five to nine year olds in 2015/16, was acute tonsillitis (11,922 admissions) and the next most common procedure carried out was tonsillectomy (12,275 procedures).
The data also shows there were 9,220 tooth extractions performed on one to four year olds in hospitals in 2015/16 – down from 9,613 in 2014/15. Extraction of teeth in young children frequently involves a general anaesthetic.
Commenting on the decrease in tooth extractions, Professor Nigel Hunt, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at The Royal College of Surgeons, said: “We’re very pleased that there’s finally been a decrease in the number of children age five to nine having teeth extracted in hospital. The Faculty of Dental Surgery has worked hard over the last two years to make people aware of the awful state our children’s teeth are in and we hope this decrease is a sign the message is starting to get through.
“That said, the number is still very high and there is a long way to go to improve children’s oral health in England. Dental decay, which is almost certainly the reason for most tooth extractions, is ninety percent preventable and the more we educate parents and carers about good oral health, the further we hope to see this number fall.
“As dental health professionals we can’t let children’s oral health fall off the Government’s agenda. We need to be constantly pushing for public health initiatives that remind families to brush teeth regularly with fluoride toothpaste, reduce sugar consumption and make use of free NHS dental treatment for under 18s by visiting the dentist routinely.”