Tooth Decay in Children Costs NHS £35 Million a Year As Young Britons Lead Europe in Swigging Sugary Drinks
The cost of removing rotting teeth in children and teenagers has risen by two thirds in just 5 years. Multiple tooth extraction in under-18s accounted for 41,000 procedures in 2014/15 and now cost the NHS £35 million a year.
There are well-documented links between sugar consumption and childhood obesity and between sugary drinks and childhood tooth decay. Young people in the UK consume more sugary soft drinks than anywhere else in Europe. Under-10s get a fifth of their sugar intake from soft drinks and 11- to 18-year olds get nearly a third.
This is why the government has brought in a "sugar tax" on both UK-produced or imported soft drinks at two levels, depending on sugar content, from April 2018 onwards.
However, in the light of the Leave vote the industry is campaigning for the tax to be suspended and re-examined. A quarter of the 400,000 people employed in the food and drinks industry are EU nationals and another quarter are older UK nationals who will be retiring within the next seven years. The Food and Drink Federation is seeking arrangements that will ensure these workers are able to be replaced when the UK leaves the EU and also fears that the British tax will encourage a high level of smuggling.
So will it now be "business as usual" - leaving the NHS to pick up the tab? The Local Government Association's Community Wellbeing Spokeswoman, Cllr Lizzie Seccombe, admits the situation is "alarming". She says, "Poor oral health can affect children and young people's ability to sleep, eat, speak, play and socialise with others. Having good oral health can help children learn at school and improve their ability to thrive and develop - not least because it will reduce school absence."