According to the Press Association there has been a significant an increase in the number of children under the age of ten who have been taken to the hospital to have emergency tooth removal because of dental decay. The problem is apparently more common among boys but there are also over 14,000 cases among children under the age of five of both genders.
Overall, there have been nearly 130,000 cases of children under the age of ten undergoing dental treatment as inpatients at the hospital since 2011. Data from The Health and Social Care Information Centre released statistics showing that children of all ages have been taken to hospital for tooth extractions and the numbers have risen steadily since the period of 2011/2012.
Professor Nigel Hunt, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons called this increase ‘unacceptable’ and described tooth decay as ‘distressing’ with ‘serious social and financial implications’. He went on to say that ‘This issue urgently needs to be addressed, especially since 90% of tooth decay is preventable’ and he urged parents to take their children to the dentist regularly, as well as teaching them to look after their teeth properly so that trips to the hospital are unnecessary due to tooth decay.