The British Dental Association (BDA) has warned that children will ‘keep paying the price’ for failures in NHS dentistry, following publication of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's (RCPCH) updated State of Child Health report.
Examining the health of children across 12 indicators, the report found that tooth decay, while entirely preventable, remained highly prevalent in England, affecting 22% of five-year-olds in 2024, with progress having stalled since 2020.
According to the RCPCH, tooth decay continues to drive hospital admissions and disproportionately affects children in more deprived communities. The report estimates that tooth extractions among children aged up to 19 in England cost the NHS £74.8m in 2024.
Responding to the findings, the BDA lamented the ‘lack of urgency and ambition’ to rebuild struggling NHS services, and highlighted that just 57% of children saw an NHS dentist in the 12 months to 31 March 2025.
BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: 'This report spells out what we all know: that oral disease and deprivation go hand in hand. But this isn't inevitable, and that link can be broken if the government is willing to double down.'
Crouch said strategies embraced by the government such as supervised brushing programmes would make an impact but argued a joined-up approach was needed to both prevent disease and 'nip problems in the bud'.
'Until ministers step up, universal access to NHS dentistry for children will remain just a myth, and many will keep paying the price,' he said.
This comes as NHS England’s updated children’s dental care standard is creating a new ‘enhanced primary care’ tier, which aims to keep more paediatric cases in primary care and reduce unnecessary specialist referrals.
Last year, the Department of Health and Social Care announced an £11 million investment ringfenced to improve children's oral health in England, which was intended to fund a targeted supervised toothbrushing scheme for three, four and five year olds in England.