Peterborough children’s oral health ‘deteriorating’

The British Dental Association warned that “grotesque” health inequalities among children in different areas of the country are set to widen as they lose out on free check-ups and school meals during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Public Health England survey of 224 five-year-olds in Peterborough found tooth decay in 38 per cent of children in the 2018-19 academic year.

The latest population estimates from the Office for National Statistics show there are 3,347 five-year-olds in the area, meaning 1,260 may be suffering with dental problems.

In 2016-17, 32 per cent of children surveyed had tooth decay, suggesting that Peterborough children have poorer oral health now than they did two years ago.

The rate in 2018-19 was higher than that across the rest of the East of England, with 19% of five-year-olds in the region experiencing tooth decay – either present at the time of the dental exam, or evident because of missing or filled teeth.

Affected children in Peterborough often had widespread issues, with multiple teeth affected showing signs of decay.

Nationally, 18,400 five-year-olds (23%) had tooth decay, and more than 1,700 children had teeth extracted.

Blackburn with Darwen, in Lancashire, had the highest rate in the country with 51 per cent of children surveyed having evidence of decay. At the other end of the scale, Hastings, in East Sussex, had the lowest rate with just 1 per cent of 210 surveyed youngsters showing signs of tooth decay.

Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, NHS England has urged dental practices to stop routine, non-urgent care until further notice, meaning five-year-olds across the country will miss out on routine check-ups in the coming weeks.

Mick Armstrong, chairman of the British Dental Association, said: “With free check-ups and school meals off the menu these grotesque inequalities among our children look set to widen.

“In the 21st century we shouldn’t accept that the oral health gap between children from wealthier and more deprived communities is inevitable.

“England has tried and tested policies to hand. Ministers must not let this service or the prevention agenda end up as casualties of this pandemic.”

Of the children that were surveyed in Peterborough, six (3 per cent) had to have a tooth out – suggesting that around 90 children in Peterborough had required an extraction, aged five or younger. As high-street dentists are unable to administer a general anaesthetic, this normally requires a hospital visit.

And with hospital tooth extractions for children aged five and under costing £836 on average, extractions in Peterborough may have cost the NHS around £75,200 in 2018-19.

In a report, Public Health England said dental decay among young children “remains an important public health issue.”

“It leads to pain and distress, sleepless nights for children and parents, and time off school and work.

“Dental decay is largely a preventable disease. Further work to improve oral health and reduce inequalities is needed as nearly a quarter of five-year-olds had experience of dental decay, and the inequalities gap remains unacceptably high.” the report said.

A message from the Editor, Mark Edwards:

Thank you for reading this story on our website.

But I also have an urgent plea to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality local news on this free-to-read site and in print, please purchase a copy of our newspaper as well. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on our town centres and many of our valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you buying a copy.

Our journalists are highly trained by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards anywhere in the world. Our content is universally trusted - as all independent research proves.

As Baroness Barran said in a House of Lords debate this week on the importance of journalists: “Not only are they a trusted source of facts, but they will have a role to play in rallying communities and getting the message across about how we can keep ourselves and our families safe, and protect our NHS. Undoubtedly, they have a critical role.”

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. In return we will continue to forensically cover the local news - not only the impact of the virus but all the positive and uplifting news happening in these dark days.

In addition, please write to your MP urging the Government to provide some additional financial support for local newspapers and their websites like this one and ensuring that supermarkets continue to stock them. I cannot stress enough how important such an intervention would be.

We thank all our readers and advertisers for their understanding and support - and we wish YOU all the best in the coming weeks. Keep safe, and follow the Government advice. Thank you.