Children’s oral health

Improving children’s oral health means giving them a better future. When they grow up free from decay, they will avoid invasive treatments, including extractions, and optimise their physical and mental wellbeing. Their dental needs may change over time, but when there is a core understanding of the value in practising good oral hygiene every day and regular attendance to appointments, they will increase their chances of maintaining a healthy and beautiful smile for a lifetime.

Pre-pandemic statistics for children’s oral health were concerning, showing that around a quarter of five-year-olds had experienced caries and that nearly all childhood hospital tooth extractions are due to decay. The figures also drew attention to huge regional variations, with poorer areas reporting a far greater incidence of childhood decay, which was mirrored by their adult populations. The pandemic has exposed huge societal inequality in the UK, accelerating trends that had emerged long before 2020. Access to NHS dentistry in some parts of the UK was described as being at a “crisis point” in 2019; now there is an unprecedented backlog and the ongoing impact of delayed, missed and cancelled appointments.