Children’s dental health crisis

Improving the management of early childhood dental conditions – particularly tooth decay which can take years to detect – and their links to diet and obesity is essential to the long-term oral and general health of the population, but needs a cultural shift in attitude and behaviour to succeed.

The pattern of eating and drinking throughout the day has contributed to the current situation with tooth decay remaining one of the most prevalent disease conditions in the child population, and borne out by the 2008/2009 NHS oral health survey which found a third of 12-year-olds attending state schools in England had visible decay in their permanent teeth.

Authors of the research that appear in the British Dental Journal (BDJ) argue that goals for children to reach adulthood with teeth that will be healthy for life are being missed.  But there is an opportunity to change this through the reorganisation of dental services in England to deliver a multi-level system of preventive care, healthcare advice and restorative and surgical treatment to meet the challenge of extensive dental disease in children.