Tooth decay remains the leading cause of hospital admissions among five- to nine-year-olds, new figures have revealed, with the BDA warning that children are paying ‘too high a price’ for a ‘broken NHS dental service’.
According to NHS England figures, there were 21,787 hospital episodes for tooth decay among children in this age group in 2025/26, up from 21,162 in the previous year.
For comparison, acute tonsillitis was the second most common cause of hospital episodes for five- to nine-year-olds, with 11,511 – just over half the number for tooth decay.
Commenting on the figures, BDA chair Dr Eddie Crouch said: ‘It shouldn’t be inevitable that tooth decay sends more young kids to hospital than any other condition.’
The association also pointed to figures published by the NHS Business Services Authority last month showing that nearly 40% of children had not seen an NHS dentist in the previous year.
Separate official data published last year recorded 49,112 episodes of tooth extractions in NHS hospitals in England among children and young people aged up to 19.
Dr Crouch said: ‘Decay can and should be prevented, but instead of catching it early many thousands of children reach the point where they need extractions.’
The BDA has welcomed government measures including supervised brushing in schools and bans on sales of high-sugar energy drinks to children.
However, it warned that ‘too little effort’ has gone into restoring access to care and in dealing with the ‘yearlong backlogs often facing children awaiting extractions’.
Dr Crouch warned that children and taxpayers were paying the price for what he called a ‘lack of political will to fix NHS dentistry’.
He said: ‘Ministers have done the right thing on programmes like supervised tooth brushing. But we cannot go on without a properly funded, functioning NHS dental service that gives children access to prevention and treatment before their problems become emergencies.’