Public Health England has surveyed three-year-olds for the first time and released figures which show that on average 12 per cent have visible decay.
The Oral Health Survey of three-year-olds was carried out in the 2012-13 school year in nurseries and playschools and involved a visual examination of more than 50,000 children across England.
Claire Stevens, a consultant in paediatric dentistry and spokesperson for BSPD said: “By the age of three, children should have all of their 20 primary teeth. What this survey does is provide a baseline for the future and highlights the public health challenge facing local authorities who commission services in their area.”
Claire added: “While the majority of pre-school age children in England are dentally healthy, there are still thousands of children as young as three who are undergoing multiple extractions under a general anaesthetic due to a disease that is entirely preventable.”
One of the most worrying aspects of the survey, she said, was the scale of regional variation. In some areas of England there is very little visible caries in nursery-age children whereas in other areas one in three children have visible decay. The parts of the country where dental decay is worst is the East Midlands – in Leicester 34 per cent of children had visible decay – followed by the North West, London, Yorkshire and Humber.
Stephen Fayle, a BSPD spokesman and a Board member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons, is Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry in Leeds, one of the areas where dental caries in three-year-olds is above average. He said: “This survey shows that dental decay in many children is starting early in their life. Tooth decay in toddlers can potentially lead to pain and infection and affect eating and sleeping. A national average of 12 per cent represents thousands of children, some of whom face long waits to see a specialist.”
Claire Stevens continued: “Figures show that 70,000 children and young people up to the age of 16 were admitted to hospitals in England in 2012/13 for extractions due to dental decay. This latest survey from Public Health England tells us that the decay is often well established at an early age.”