Bolton: More than half of five-year-olds with 'tooth decay'

The British Dental Association said the country's oral health gap is widening yet ministers remain "asleep at the wheel".

Data from the National Dental Epidemiology Programme for 2021 to 2022 show that 363 of the 3,990 five-years-olds had their teeth examined that school year.

The survey covered children attending mainstream, state-funded schools. All children under 18, or under 19 and in full time education, are exempt from dental charges.

Of those analysed, 52.5 per cent  had enamel decay or more serious decay to the layer of dentin under the enamel.

The figures show 42.8 per cent of the five-year-olds examined in Bolton had more serious dentinal decay.

This is the first year the programme has reported on enamel decay. Preventative measures can halt enamel decay from progressing to dentinal decay.

Across England 62,000 youngsters were included in the analysis.

Of those analysed 29.3 per cent had dental decay and 23.7 per cent had more serious dental decay.

The figures show that Bolton’s problems in this area are almost double the national average.

The North West of England had the highest level of tooth decay with a rate of 38.7 per cent and the south west the lowest proportion of 23.3 per cent.

The programme's report said: “The cause of dental decay is well understood and is related to the frequent exposure of teeth to fermentable carbohydrates, most commonly through eating and drinking sugary snacks and drinks."

Dr Zuber Bagasi runs the Bolton based Synergy Dental Group which has a number of practices in the town.

He said: “In Greater Manchester we have got a programme highlighting that baby teeth do matter.

“What this does is promote understanding of health in teeth.

“There is a plan to resolve the disparities that have opened up.

“The aim is to give oral hygiene and dental advice.

“The secondary thing is that a handful of practices in Greater Manchester have been selected where if there are patients including children who have an emergency they will be seen immediately.

“The three clinics we have in Bolton are part of that scheme.

“There are others in Bolton that are doing it.

“We also aim to improve access for adults.

“If they go more then so will children.”

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care said:“Improving oral health amongst children in Greater Manchester has been a major focus for a number of years due to the higher levels of tooth decay and inequality within the region. A situation that is not surprising, as it is recognised that children living in more deprived areas are almost three times as likely to have experience of dental decay as those living in the less deprived areas.

"While improvements had begun to be made pre-COVID-19 pandemic, there has undeniably been an impact on the oral health of children. Some children were unable to access oral health initiatives during this time, and the challenges faced by our dental services has meant longer waiting times for check-ups etc.

"Despite the challenges of the pandemic, it is very promising to see that eight out of the ten areas showed the same or greater proportion of children without tooth decay (dentinal decay) than in 2019 despite COVID 19 - although it is clear more needs to be done to get the oral health of young children in Greater Manchester to the levels we want and expect."

This year the health body is working to deliver the Greater Manchester Oral Health Improvement Programme across the rest of the city region, building on the success of our previous transformation programme. The transformation programme delivered training to 1250 staff, supervised toothbrushing in early years settings to nearly 78,000 children aged 2-5 years old, and distributed toothbrushing packs to over 322,174 children from 9 months old upwards.

There is also a Looked After Child e-referral scheme which allows children’s carers to refer a Looked After Child who is struggling to find a dentist.

Eddie Crouch, British Dental Association chairman, said there has been no action to break the link between decay and deprivations.

He said: “Whether it’s providing access to basic care, rolling out tried and tested programmes in schools, or fluoridating water, our youngest patients require deeds not words.”

David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said untreated dental conditions are one of the most prevalent diseases affecting children’s ability to speak, eat, play and socialise.

Mr Fothergill said: “Oral health inequality is expected to grow owing to the scale of backlogs in primary care, which limit the chance to catch problems early.”

“The Government should recommit to vital measures to combat childhood obesity and diet-related ill health, such as the sugar levy which has helped cut down the consumption of drinks with high sugar content,” he added.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the number of children seen by NHS dentists increased by 43.6 per cent in the last year.

They added: “We know tooth decay is often linked to deprivation and we are taking action to provide cost of living support."

They said the number of dentists increased by over 500 last year and added the government is investing more than £3 billion in NHS dentistry.