The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the state of children’s oral health is “nothing short of appalling”.
Figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Inequalities show that in the year to March 2023 there were a total of 270 admissions to hospitals in Blackburn with Darwen for tooth extraction.
Of these, approximately 185 were caries exports.
Overall, the tooth extraction rate in Blackburn with Darwen was 613 per 100,000 children, above the national rate of 360 per 100,000.
Amy Lepiorz, deputy director of primary care for Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “Providing access to NHS dental care continues to be a priority both locally and nationally and we recognize the difficulties many patients face in access to regular dental care.
“In Lancashire and South Cumbria, we launched the Dental Access and Oral Health Improvement Program to improve access to high street primary care dental services and improve oral health.
“This will include services such as routine care for people who need a check-up and any follow-up care, as well as emergency dental care for those in immediate need of support, prioritizing the areas of Lancashire and South Cumbria with the greatest need for dental access and support oral health. It will also aim to reduce inequalities in dental access and oral health across the region.
“The program will focus on where investment should be prioritized, improving patient journeys, communicating with the public and staff and supporting the retention and recruitment of the dental workforce.”
Separately, figures from the government’s annual oral health survey of year 6 children showed that 16.2% had developed tooth decay, with those affected having decay in at least two teeth on average.
In Blackburn with Darwen, about 14.3% of 10 to 11-year-olds had tooth decay.
Cllr Julie Gunn, Chair of the Oral Health Strategy Group in Blackburn with Darwen, said: “There are currently some real issues around access to dentists across the country and this is linked to ongoing oral health problems and admissions to hospital. This is something that urgently needs to be addressed by the government and people are really struggling to get dental treatment.
“The British Dental Association says £3 billion spent on oral health has remained the same for 10 years and 4 in 5 dentists are not taking on new NHS patients.
“While dental care does not fall under Public Health, a huge amount of work has been done in Blackburn with Darwen to support the oral health of our children and young people, and figures published last year showed that we have improved by 11 per cent, which means that the number of children with cavities has dropped to 40%, which is still high, but a big improvement.
“We’ve seen 3,500 children benefit from brushing their teeth in the early years and because of all the prevention and oral health education work we do in primary schools, we have one of the lowest rates of tooth decay in our 11-year-olds.” teeth in the North West, at just 14% which is lower than the North West figure of 20% and England’s figure of 16%.
“Last year Public Health and our partners were awarded the National Association of Public Health Directors Quality Award for our oral health work with children across the borough.
“There is still work to be done, and this is ongoing, but we are making great strides to tackle this issue and ensure that all children in the borough have healthy teeth and good oral health.
“Our work includes supervised tooth brushing in schools, targeted awareness campaigns and the first group of Kind to Teeth Parent Champions, helping other parents learn about the best way to brush teeth and look after their child’s oral health.
“There is also the provision of free-flowing toothbrushes and toothpaste and cups to every child at the eight to 12-month health visitor.
“We know that some children still suffer from tooth decay, as these figures show, and we continue to face an oral health challenge, but I believe we can continue to make progress and we will continue to work hard on it.”
David Fothergill, chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “These stark figures reveal that a lack of access to affordable dentistry is having a worrying impact on the state of children’s teeth.
“The fact that, due to the severity of tooth decay, an average of 119 operations are carried out every day to remove decaying teeth in children and teenagers is worrying and also adds to the current pressures on our health service.
“Untreated dental care remains one of the most prevalent diseases affecting children and young people’s ability to speak, eat, play and socialize.”
Dr Helen Stewart, health improvement officer at the RCPCH, added that the state of children’s oral health in England is nothing short of dire.
He said the link between deprivation and tooth decay was “undeniable”, as children living in lower-income areas were more than twice as likely to develop tooth decay as their more affluent peers.
