Bad teeth at the school of rot

By DAVID WOODING
Whitehall Editor
Published: Today
THOUSANDS of kids start school with bad teeth because parents cannot find NHS dentists, it emerged yesterday.
Shocking new figures showed the UK’s dental health has stalled with a quarter of five-year-olds having at least two decayed, filled or missing teeth.
Children living in Manchester, Nottingham, Blackburn and Liverpool’s Knowsley area are worst with an average of THREE rotten molars.
Experts blamed the shortage of NHS dentists and a lack of campaigns promoting tooth health.
And they said standards will slump even further in the wake of the botched NHS contract which has seen 900,000 fewer Britons having check-ups since many dentists went private.
Dr Susie Sanderson, executive chairman of the British Dental Association, called the situation “desperate” and warned: “We cannot let this get worse.”
Nine years ago Labour promised to give all patients access to NHS dentists.
But 46 per cent of people have not seen one in the past two years.
Tories predicted dental “catastrophe”.
Shadow Health Minister Mike Penning said: “Labour’s neglect will have a devastating effect on the dental health of our children. There has been no effort to promote oral hygiene beyond what toothpaste companies have done.”
Health Minister Ann Keen insisted there was “absolutely no relationship” between the level of decay in kids and the number of dentists in areas.
She said: “Tooth decay is caused by sugar in the diet. It is prevented by the appropriate use of a fluoride toothpaste, improving the diet, and where appropriate fluoridating the water.”