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3 months ago
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More than a quarter of five-year-olds in England still have rotten teeth, a damning report reveals.
Rates of tooth decay in young children remain very poor despite a range of interventions, health experts warn today.
It comes one year since the unacceptable state of children’s oral health was first exposed, prompting the government to take urgent action.
And while there has been some improvement, millions of children are still suffering from ‘entirely preventable’ issues, figures show.
Analysis of the latest government data reveals that 26.9 per cent of five-year-olds in England have tooth decay – a condition caused by a breakdown of the tooth’s surface often linked to having too much sugary food and drink.
Researchers also discovered that children living in the most deprived areas of England are more than twice as likely to experience decay as those living in the least deprived areas.
Some areas are especially hard hit. In West Yorkshire, for example, 950 school days were lost for dental reasons across nine schools in just one academic year.
The report, titled Improving Children’s Oral Health Update, was compiled by scientists from the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield as part of the Child of the North initiative.
Millions of children are still suffering from ‘entirely preventable’ issues, figures show (stock image)
In it, they commend government action taken in the past year to improve children’s oral health, including the introduction of a national supervised toothbrushing programme.
There have also been bans on both the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children and on junk food advertising before 9pm.
But they also warned that children’s access to NHS dentists is still very poor.
Professor Mark Mon-Williams, who edited the report, said: ‘The number of children with rotten teeth is a powerful indicator of the wider decay in child wellbeing that is affecting millions of young lives across the UK.’
Baroness Anne Longfield, founder of the Centre for Young Lives, welcomed the action taken by the government in recent months.
But she added: ‘The reality is that far too many children continue to suffer the effects of poor oral health, particularly in areas of higher deprivation.
‘We need to take evidence-based action and develop a national plan to tackle a rotten teeth crisis affecting millions of our children.’
Earlier this year health ministers announced that children in the most deprived areas of England would get access to a supervised toothbrushing programme in a bid to tackle tooth decay.
The scheme was designed to help up to 600,000 children develop positive brushing habits and since launching in March, has been rolled out to 240,000 youngsters across nurseries and primary schools.
Other initiatives include the expansion of water fluoridation across the North-East of England to help prevent tooth decay.
In September, figures revealed tooth decay is the leading cause of hospital admissions among children aged five to nine in England.
The data, published by NHS England, showed that 21,162 children aged 5 to 9 were admitted to hospital in 2024/2025 due to tooth decay, compared to 13,667 children admitted for acute tonsillitis, making decay the leading cause of hospital admissions in this age group.
At the time Dr Charlotte Eckhardt, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England said: ‘These figures are a public health emergency.
‘Tooth decay is entirely preventable, yet thousands of children are hospitalised every year for procedures that could have been avoided with simple daily habits and better access to an NHS dentist. The government’s dental contract must be boldly overhauled if they want to improve patient access and outcomes.’
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'This government inherited a broken NHS dental system after years of neglect, but we are getting on with fixing it through our Plan for Change. We have already begun the rollout of 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments, and we are reforming the NHS dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
'We are also rolling out supervised tooth brushing for three-to-five year-olds in the most deprived communities and have partnered with industry to provide millions of free dental products to families, because prevention is better than cure.'
ARE TRENDY WAYS OF CLEANING YOUR TEETH EFFECTIVE, OR DANGEROUS?
Top dentists reveal how trendy fads can wreak havoc with people's teeth.
Despite the likes of Gisele Bündchen and the Hemsley sisters swearing by starting every morning with a refreshing glass of hot water and lemon, Dr Ben Atkins, a dentist based in Manchester and Trustee of the Oral Health Foundation, warns the drink effectively dissolves teeth and could even make them darker.
While critics link fluoride to everything from dementia to diabetes, experts argue numerous studies show the mineral does not harm people's health, with free-from varieties missing out on 'the main protective ingredient'.
Dr Atkins also describes the ancient Ayurvedic practice of oil pulling, which involves swishing coconut oil around the mouth, as a 'waste of time', with Dr Rhona Eskander, Best Young Dentist Winner 2016, adding it will not give you a Hollywood smile.
In terms of brushing your teeth with charcoal or apple cider vinegar, both Dr Atkins and Dr Eskander add the 'natural remedies' could do more harm than good as while their acidic, abrasive consistencies may remove surface stains, they could also permanently damage enamel.
