Has Sugar Drinks Tax Affected Caries Inequalities?
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- Published: Thursday, 07 August 2025 09:21
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Prevention is a cornerstone of the government‘s plans for NHS dental care. Water fluoridation, toothbrushing classes, more UDA‘s for interventions such as fluoride varnish and fissure sealants, have all been proposed. There can also be a place for nudge type actions, one example being the ‘sugar tax‘ introduced in 2018.
The UK’s adoption of this is hardly unique, with 120 countries having some form of sugar tax. Despite this, there have been suggestions that it is not a simple issue. This is reflected in the announcement of a new research project at the Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University London (QMUL), led by Professor Eduardo Bernabe. The study has won grant funding to investigate how the sugar tax has impacted inequalities in children’s tooth decay.
The new study will aim to address two questions: (1) How does the sugar tax impact the distribution of severe tooth decay across social groups, ethnic backgrounds, and living areas? (2) What are the economic benefits of the sugar tax?
In an explanatory feature about the project, the QMUL team provide their answer to the question, of how their study will contribute to assessing the impact of the sugar tax. Their answer is: “It is unclear whether the tax has helped reduce the gap in tooth decay rates between social groups, ethnic backgrounds and living areas.”
Explaining their wish to investigate this topic the QMUL team say that it is still unclear whether the tax has helped to reduce the gap in tooth decay rates between social groups. It has been argued that the tax unfairly affects the poor since they will pay more taxes, as a share of their income, to consume soft drinks.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research has funded the study with a grant of £263,285.75.
There is a good deal of available information on the efficacy of such taxes. Officially known as the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) the UK tax was introduced in 2018. Revenue from the levy was initially invested in programmes tackling childhood obesity, but since its first year the funds raised have been diverted into the general tax pot. Despite this, it is generally regarded as a success with the total sugar sold in soft drinks decreasing significantly. Between 2015 and 2019 the sales-weighted average sugar content of soft drinks declined by 43.7%, from 5.7g/100ml to 2.2g/100ml. Previous research has found that this fed through into a lower overall daily sugar intake for both children and adults.
A recent paper published in BMC Oral Health, whilst identifying distinct snack and drink consumption patterns among young children from underserved American communities, found no significant association between these patterns and the onset of early childhood caries.
Another study at QMUL in 2024 recommended an extension of sugar levies such as the SDIL. Previous analysis had shown a reduction in obesity among Year 6 girls and a decrease in children admitted to hospital for tooth extractions. The study urged governments to do more, for example, by reducing the sugar content threshold in the levy, and by extending it to sweetened milk-based drinks.
GDPUK contacted the QMUL study leader expressing interest in the study. We asked how they would view results that demonstrated a reduction in such inequalities following introduction of the tax, versus a failure to do so, or even increased inequalities, in terms of future advocacy for legislation. There has been no response.
Sugar Tax - Institute of Dentistry - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
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