One in three UK children from deprived backgrounds suffer with tooth decay
Dentists warn we're "failing" our most vulnerable, but what are we missing in the fight against unhealthy teeth?
Last updated 7th Dec 2020
One in three children living in poverty are suffering from tooth decay.
Figures reveal the rate is more than twice as bad as those children from less deprived areas, where one in seven has oral problems.
Dentists are warning unhealthy diets and food insecurity are causing serious issues for our most deprived, and warned that more needs to be done to protect "our most vulnerable".
Paediatric Dentist and spokesperson for the BSPD Claire Stevens told us she sees the issues poverty is causing first hand: "I saw a child this week and the family had not bought toothpaste, because they thought they'd save a few pennies. Actually, the delivery of fluoride is the most important part of the brushing."
"I've had families who say 'Can I wait to see you because I need to save up for the bus fare?' There are things we can do to support that, but that's how tight it is for some families."
Looking at the bigger picture
The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry says we need to change the way we think about oral health, starting with more holistic ways of looking at a child's needs. Claire adds "Yesterday, 90% of my work was social work and support, identifying the barriers for parents to provide good measures at home for their child."
BSPD’s call for measures to support families comes as Marcus Rashford's campaign for free holiday-time meals captures the public's imagination, something the BSPD fully support.
They say poor diet, food insecurity and lack of public health information are all factors that can add to the risk a child will suffer teeth problems in their early years.
They also warn of the impact tooth decay can have on a child's development that goes way beyond what's happening in their mouths.
Claire says: "Children from deprived backgrounds are much more likely to have tooth decay, and they're much more likely to have toothache, something that can have a negative impact on their school life because, let's be clear, its not a case of 'They're baby teeth, they're going to fall out anyway' the implications can be really significant. It can impact on their ability to eat, to sleep, to be school ready, and we really need to be taking this seriously.
Children's oral health is everybody's business."
Just how big is the problem?
Figures up to March 2020 showed that rotting teeth was the number one cause of hospital admissions for 5-9 year olds in the last year. More than 23,500 children were admitted last year alone for a general anaesthetic to extract teeth, sometimes all of a child’s teeth are extracted.
Second in the list of admissions is acute tonsillitis, with over 10,000 cases.
Since 2012, the number of young people in hospital for extractions has topped 350,000. 57% of which were between the ages of 5 and 9.
Is the sugar tax working?
The BSPD is also calling for clearer food labelling so parents know what it is they are giving their children. They also want to see further sugar reduction in food and drinks frequently consumed by children.
This echoes calls from the Royal College of Surgeons who are calling for a greater national effort to tackle the issue of tooth decay in young people including:
- 1) Urgently identifying a ‘new home’ for oral health work, in the wake of the planned changes at Public Health England
- 2) Extension of the successful ‘Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ to milkshakes and other sugary milky drinks
- 3) Introducing a national supervised tooth brushing scheme in England, based on the successful ‘Designed to Smile’ programme in Wales and ‘Childsmile’ scheme in Scotland
Faculty Dean, Mr Matthew Garrett said: “It is likely that lockdown will have had a damaging effect on children’s oral health too, with reduced access to routine dental treatment, and disrupted routines which could undermine tooth brushing habits.
“At the moment oral health has been left out in the cold with Public Health England having been scrapped, without replacements for all its functions.
“We look forward to working with government to resolve this, and we are seeking a renewed commitment to sugar taxes and supervised brushing. Only these measures will bring about a radical reduction in the number of children suffering from preventable tooth decay.”