Four in five toddlers did not visit an NHS dentist last year

In addition to misinformation about when oral health monitoring should begin, many parents and carers do not know that NHS preventive dental appointments for minors are free. During 2015/16, there were 9,220 cases of tooth extractions performed in hospitals on children aged 1–4. Many of these cases can be attributed to dental caries, which is 90 per cent preventable and remains the most common reason for hospital admissions of British children, according to the FDS.

“In a nation which offers free dental care for under 18s, there should be no excuse for these statistics. Yet we know from parents we speak to that there is widespread confusion, even in advice given to them by NHS staff, about when a child should first visit the dentist. Every child should have free and easy access to dental care from the point when their first teeth appear in the mouth,” said FDS Dean Prof. Nigel Hunt. “The earlier a child visits the dentist, the earlier any potential problems can be picked up, so it is easier to prevent children having to go through the trauma of having their teeth removed under a general anaesthetic. Prevention is always better than cure.”

Hunt went on to explain that regular check-ups in early years help children to become familiar with the dental environment. This way, a traumatic and stressful experience that may have a serious lifelong effect on a child’s willingness to engage in the dental process can be avoided.

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