Children's dental health
Among younger children, 27 per cent of five-year-olds had tooth decay,3 and 12 per cent of three-year-olds had experienced caries. “On average, these children had 3.07 teeth that were decayed, missing or filled (at age three most children have all 20 primary teeth),†according to Public Health England’s 2013 survey.4
The number of children admitted to hospital due to tooth decay (suggesting treatment requiring a general anaesthetic) increased by 19.6% between 2010 and 2015.5 The Royal College of Surgeons noted that “approximately 46,500 children and young people under 19 were admitted to hospital for a primary diagnosis of dental caries in 2013–14â€. Five to nine-year-olds accounted for half of the admissions, an increase of 14 per cent between 2010–11 and 2013–14.6
