BDA calls for paediatric tooth decay prevention campaign

The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on the government to launch a national programme of prevention in England to tackle tooth decay in children.

Coinciding with the Local Dental Committees' annual conference in Manchester, the association has highlighted figures showing that in 2014-15, more than 179,000 teeth were removed in children aged nine and under in dental practices across England.

This issue affected 33,781 children in this age group, with the cost to the NHS of removing these teeth estimated at around 14 million pounds.

As such, the BDA states that this money would be better spent on a nationwide prevention scheme, such as Childsmile in Scotland or Wales' Designed to Smile. Currently, England has no equivalent national oral health programme.

Such a scheme would help to raise parents' awareness of the importance of tooth brushing and oral health in general, thus reducing the need for fillings and extractions in children over time, particularly among the most disadvantaged in society.

The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry has backed the BDA's call, with spokeswoman Claire Stevens saying: "BSPD is concerned about the health inequalities in England and that it's the most disadvantaged in society who are dentally disadvantaged from a young age."