- Almost five million children did not visit a dentist in the last 12 months
- Tooth decay is at epidemic levels and lead cause of hospital admissions
- Report found 48% of adults did not visit a dentist between 2014 to 2016
Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail
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Nearly half of parents have not taken their children to a dentist in the last year, official figures reveal.
Some 42 per cent of under-18s, almost five million children, did not visit a dentist in 2015/16, up from 40 per cent the year before.
Official NHS guidelines advise children should visit a dentist at least once a year.
Experts said the figures display a worrying trend at a time when children are eating too much sugar and child tooth decay is at epidemic levels.
Professor Nigel Hunt, dean of the faculty of dental surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘There is nothing to smile about in these woeful statistics.
‘With the average five-year-old now eating their own weight in sugar each year, it is alarming that 42.1 per cent of children failed to visit an NHS dentist at all in the last year.
Almost five million children, did not visit a dentist in 2015/16, up from 40 per cent the year before, official figures have revealed
‘It is appalling that in the 21st century, tooth decay remains the most common reason why children aged five to nine are admitted to hospital.
‘In some cases, these children undergo multiple tooth extractions under general anaesthetic – despite the fact that tooth decay is almost entirely preventable.’
The data, published by NHS Digital, also shows that 48 per cent of adults did not visit a dentist over a two-year period from 2014 to 2016.
Adults should go to the dentist at least once every two years, although those with fillings or gum disease should visit more often.
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Separate data, published earlier this month, showed people are feeding under-10s an average of 14 teaspoons of sugar a day – nearly three times the limit.
Older children and teenagers are getting more than 18 teaspoons, much of it from fizzy drinks and fruit juice.
Soft drinks are still the biggest source of sugar in the diet of children and teenagers, the Public Health England numbers showed.
Children’s consumption of sweet drinks has dropped very little in the six years health officials have been collecting data, despite dire warnings of the health dangers.
For 11-to 18-year-olds fruit juice, smoothies and fizzy drinks still make 38 per cent of sugar intake – only a small reduction on the 41 per cent recorded when the data was first recorded in 2008.
Under-10s an average of 14 teaspoons of sugar a day – nearly three times the limit
For younger children, aged four to ten, sweet drinks made up 27 per cent of sugar intake in the latest data collection, down from 30 per cent previously.
Izzi Seccombe, from the Local Government Association, said: ‘It is deeply worrying that more than a third of children have not been to the dentist in the past 12 months.
‘Regular dentist trips can ensure tooth decay is tackled at an early stage, and avoid the need for far more invasive treatment in hospital later on.
‘As we have previously said, hospitals spent £35 million removing teeth in under 18s in 2014/15 – a 61% increase over five years – which shows the scale of the oral health challenge we face in children and young people.’
Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, from the British Dental Association, said: ‘When half of adults – and nearly five million children – fail to see the dentist, ministers have some very serious questions to answer.
‘This isn’t patient apathy, this is what you get when governments treat oral health as an optional extra.
‘Effective prevention is impossible without regular check-ups, and to date ministers have been unwilling to get that message across.’
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