‘Sugar Tax’ Could be Correlated to Decrease in Kids Tooth Decay

In 2018, the UK launched the ‘sugar tax’ to combat obesity concerns for children. Recent results disclosed in ‘Prevention and Health’ showed a 12% decrease in dental procedures for children under the age of 18 which may have been an impact of the regulation. 

“Tooth decay is preventable, and sadly remains an important cause of hospital admission for children.” stated Dr Oliver Mytton, Professor at University College London. 

“Our study estimates that the tax on sugary drinks prevented around 5,500 admissions for tooth extraction in children in England in 2020.” Dr Mytton continued. 

Approximately 60,000 days of education are lost annually in England as a result of tooth decay, which accounts for around 90% of kids tooth extractions.  

The soft drink regulation was introduced to incentivize soda companies to rework their items to include less sugar. In 2020, approximately 5,600 hospitalisations for tooth extraction were prevented for under 18-year-olds. 

The findings showed that the decrease in hospitalization was highest between ages 0 to 4 and 5 to 9 years.  

“This is an important finding given that children aged five to nine are the most likely to be admitted to hospital for tooth extractions under general anaesthesia” added Dr Nina Rogers from the University of Cambridge.  

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