Hospital dental extractions continue to rise
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- Published: Monday, 15 January 2018 07:47
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The Local Government Association has claimed that hospitals carried out multiple tooth extractions on around 170 children every working day in the UK last year. There were 42,911 hospital procedures to remove teeth from patients aged 18 and under in 2016-17 at a cost of more than £36 million. There has been a rise of 17% over the past four years, up from 36,833 in 2012-13.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 370 councils in England and Wales, called for a crackdown on unhealthy foods and soft drinks. Limiting the amount of sugar in soft drinks and putting teaspoon labels on food to indicate the amount of sugar it contains would help slash consumption, the LGA said. Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, said: “These figures show that we have an oral health crisis and highlight the damage that excessive sugar intake is doing to young people’s teeth.”
Claire Stevens, President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry told GDPUK: “As a profession, we know what works in terms of disease prevention - but we need to be getting all children to see a dentist by the age of one and reaching the 40% of children who aren’t brought to the dentist as well. The Local Government Association has once again raised awareness of the worrying number of general anaesthetics for dental extractions. Now it would be good to see their members raising the bar on targeted toothbrushing campaigns in schools and nurseries as well as other oral health prevention measures."
The BDA blamed Government ministers with chairman Mick Armstrong saying: “These statistics are a badge of dishonour for health ministers, who have failed to confront a wholly preventable disease. Communities across England have been left hamstrung without resources or leadership. This short-sightedness means just a few thousand children stand to benefit from policies that need to be reaching millions.”
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the Oral Health Foundation charity, said the rise in childhood teeth extractions was “completely unacceptable” and was causing pain and distress for the under-18s undergoing the procedure.
Dr Sandra White, Public Health England’s director of dental public health, said: “Parents can reduce tooth decay through cutting back on their children’s sugary food and drink, encouraging them to brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day, and trips to the dentist as often as advised.”
Prof Russell Viner, officer for health promotion at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said ministers should ban television advertisements for foods high in fat, salt or sugar before the 9pm watershed and stop fast food shops opening near schools and colleges.
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