Caries rate rising rapidly amongst young children

The national percentage for five-year-old children with obvious caries is 23.4 per cent. In Manchester, it has reached 38.3 per cent.

Local media outlet Manchester Evening News collated data from several parts of the region. It discovered that Oldham, Rochdale and Salford had caries rates of 43.7 per cent, 40.7 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.

In March 2020, Greater Manchester dental practices received instruction to suspend non-urgent care to limit Covid-19 transmission. Practices were able to reopen in June 2020, but they were only able to see six to eight patients a day due to enhanced infection prevention and control. The legacy of the pandemic has placed significant pressure on dental practices, the report states, “Services are now working hard on recovery to pre-pandemic levels and in particular to reduce backlogs and waiting lists for treatment.”