Tooth decay remains the main reason for hospitals admissions among five to nine year olds, according to data published by NHS Digital. Following a decrease during the pandemic, the number of five to nine year olds requiring tooth extractions in hospital rose to 16,959 in 2021-22 (compared to 9,429 in 2020-21). In total, almost 30,000 children and young people aged between 0-19 were admitted to hospital because of tooth decay in 2021-22.
The figures are lower than pre-covid tooth extraction rates (which were 23,529 extractions in 2019-20). However, this indicates that secondary care dentistry is still recovering following the pandemic with many children still waiting to see a hospital dentist, rather than that the issue of tooth decay is improving. Dentists across the country are working incredibly hard to tackle the backlog and ensure that children and young people receive treatment as quickly as possible.
In recent weeks, there have been reports that the government plans to scrap the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on fizzy drinks, more commonly known as the sugar tax. There have been discussions that plans for a ban on ‘buy one get one free’ deals on unhealthy food will not go ahead. There are also rumoured delays to restrictions on junk food advertising.
The sugar tax is an extremely successful policy that has reduced the amount of sugar in soft drinks by 30 per cent and removed 48,000 kilos of sugar from the nation's diet. It has also raised over £1 billion which funds school breakfast clubs, school holiday programmes, as well as sports and PE equipment for primary schools.
Commenting on today’s figures, Matthew Garrett, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery said, “Unfortunately, today’s statistics are not surprising. Tooth decay is consistently the main reason children aged five to nine are admitted to hospital, and yet tooth decay is almost completely preventable. It is completely unacceptable that there have been almost 30,000 hospital admissions for tooth decay in the past year.
“Now is not the time to scrap the sugar tax and other initiatives which could improve the nation’s oral health. Rather than rolling back on these crucial sugar reduction policies, we need urgent action to go further. Children’s oral health should be a key part of the government’s long awaited Health Disparities White Paper. This should also include a comprehensive strategy that provides real investment in prevention programmes such as supervised tooth brushing schemes and reformulation of sugary products. We strongly recommend that the government reconsiders any plans to weaken these crucial public health measures.”