LGA: Nearly 180 operations a day to remove rotten teeth in children
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- Published: Monday, 24 August 2020 08:49
- Written by News Editor
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The Local Government Association has published figures showing that last year there were nearly 45,000 hospital operations to remove rotten teeth in children and teenagers – equating to 177 a day and warn of a potential post-coronavirus surge of dental treatments following the lifting of lockdown. The BSPD says there should be a resumption in toothbrushing schemes in early years settings as soon as practical.
The Local Government Association, which represents councils, says the stark numbers highlight the dangers of too much sugary food and drink in youngsters’ diets, as well as poor oral hygiene, which is likely to have worsened during the last few months, while children and teenagers have been stuck indoors.
There were 44,685 extractions of multiple teeth in under-18s in England in 2018/19 at a cost of £41.5 million, according to latest NHS spending data. This is equal to 177 per working day, an increase of 17 per cent compared to the 38,208 extractions in 2012/13, which cost £27.4 million
Early years settings including nurseries and schools closures have also led to the loss of supervised brushing time and fewer opportunities to educate young children and parents about good oral health. Councils, schools and other educational settings are keen to restart supervised brushing schemes and scale up their oral health work, to avoid an increase in tooth decay and extractions, but need the additional funding and capacity to help do so.
Seven in ten families (70 per cent) with children under five are also reporting more snacking in the household during the lockdown, more than double compared with those who are not living with children, with snacking also risen among families with younger children.
The LGA is calling for councils’ prevention efforts to be fully funded to help keep children’s teeth healthy, including reversing a reduction of more than £700 million in the public health grant to councils between 2015/16 and 2019/20. The public health grant to councils should also be increased to at least £3.9 billion a year by 2024/25, so it matches the growth in overall NHS funding, as part of the NHS Long-Term Plan.
British Society of Paediatric Dentistry
The BSPD’s spokesperson, Dr Claire Stevens, says the LGA is right to highlight the risk of worsening dental decay in children as a result of COVID-19 as well as the guidance that is now available on establishing such toothbrushing schemes.
BSPD is collecting the data to assess the impact of the pandemic on children’s oral health. Prior to the pandemic, the figures for children having general anaesthetics for multiple extractions were starting to come down. This was thanks to the concerted efforts of many people, driving up preventive interventions and activities.
The cancellation of general anaesthetics for multiple dental extractions during COVID-19 will inevitably mean that hospitals are working through a backlog of cases once elective (non-emergency) procedures restart. There is also the possibility of increased dental caries in children, the result of being out of education and stuck at home with greater opportunities to snack.
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