Council chiefs call for more action over dental hygiene as new figures reveal over 40% of children have not visited an NHS dentist in the past year.
In its annual report on dental statistics for England, NHS Digital found the number of children seen by an NHS dentist in the 12 months up to June 2016 was 6.7m - 57.9% of the child population.
A Local Government Association (LGA) spokesperson has described this statistic as ‘deeply worrying’ and warned of an ‘oral hygiene crisis’.
‘Hospitals spent £35m removing teeth in under 18s in 2014/15 - a 61% increase over five years - which shows the scale of the oral health challenge we face in children and young people,’ said Cllr Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the LGA's community wellbeing board.
‘Councils across the country are working with their communities to promote the importance of children having good oral hygiene, but clearly we need to take a national approach to the issue.’
