Kid's tooth extractions reduced by sugar tax

'Brace yourself,' researchers say it's had a dramatic impact

Gummy teeth sweets
Published 15th Nov 2023

The soft drinks industry levy may have prevented thousands of children needing to have their teeth pulled out in the UK.

Researchers, led by academics at the University of Cambridge, wanted to assess the impact of the levy, which was announced in March 2016 and implemented in April 2018.

The tax has led to drinks companies reformulating their drinks to contain less sugar. Failure to do so leads to firms paying a levy per litre of drink.

When the law came into force, the Treasury estimated that more than 50% of manufacturers had already reduced the sugar content of drinks as a result.

The new study, published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, saw experts analyse NHS hospital admissions in England for tooth extraction caused by tooth decay.

The team looked at data from 2012, before the tax was introduced, to February 2020.

They found a 12.1% "relative reduction" of in hospital admissions for tooth extractions among children aged up to 18.

They estimated that the reduction equates to an estimated 5,638 hospital admissions being averted each year.

The largest reduction was seen among children aged up to four years old, where academics found a 28.6% reduction.

Graham Wilding, a cosmetic dentist in Lancashire says:

"Certainly when I was in the NHS it extractions used to take up the vast majority of my time.

"I am aware that the general anesthetic sessions tend to be largely of young children having teeth removed.

"That's not only a tragedy for the children but look at that waste of resource."

He added that it is an issue that is largely avoidable:

"Tooth decay is totally preventable if we control sugar.

"We should not really need to search for dentists to search for dentists for treatment for tooth decay because it is preventable."

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