Some emergency dentistry could be avoided if parents take the advice of one US expert.
Doctor Jonathan Scheff, chief medical officer for Health Net, has told adults to make sure their children are fit and well before the school year begins because physical health and academic performance are linked.
“We recommend that back-to-school preparations include a visit to the doctor and to the dentist,” he added.
Research in 2000 found that tooth decay was the most common childhood disease, five times more prevalent than asthma.
Robert Shechet, Health Net’s director of dental programmes, warned parents that youngsters often do not realise there are problems with their teeth.
As a result, he suggested action should be taken if eating habits change and commented that twice-yearly dentist visits should start as soon as their first baby teeth come through.
The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry found that 17 per cent of children under four had had some experience of cavities in the 1990s.