According to the data, thousands of children could not have their rotten teeth removed due to Covid.
In the first year of the pandemic, youth tooth extractions were halved and only 14,645 were performed in 2020/21.
They were about 20,000 less than the previous year.
Dentists warned today that children who do not have the procedure will suffer.
The British Dental Association said the service’s “decline” reflected “no change in demand” for surgeries performed under general anesthesia in NHS hospitals.
They called for a “full disclosure” of how many young people await a tooth extraction and a “well-funded plan” to address the backlog.
The graph shows the number of tooth extractions per year in the UK for children younger than 19, broken down by number of caries (dark blue bars) or other causes (light blue bars). The figures show that only 14,615 teeth were extracted in the first year of the pandemic, down 20,575 (58.5%) from 35,190 the previous year.
Data from the Office of Health Promotion and Inequalities (OHID) show that by March 2021, there were 22,459 tooth extractions among youth under 19 years of age.
About 14,645 of these procedures—about two-thirds—were due to tooth decay.
This number is 20,575 (56.4%) less than the 35,190 procedures performed for caries in March 2020.
This is despite a 0.4 percent increase in the number of children in the population, according to health directors.
Health leaders have estimated that tooth extraction, which has been the leading cause of children’s hospitalizations for more than a decade, costs the NHS £21.8m a year and that dental caries removal alone costs £13.8m.
The OHID admitted that the decline in tooth extractions was “probably due to the continued impact of the Covid epidemic on non-Covid-related hospital departments, rather than a sudden drop in need or demand.”
More than 12.5 million NHS dentist appointments have been missed in England due to the lockdown.
OHID data show nationwide differences in treatment, with 285 tooth extractions per 100,000 youth under 19 years observed in the Northeast, compared to just 72 per 100,000 in the West Midlands.
And tooth extraction among youth living in poorer communities was three times higher than in wealthier areas.
The BDA warned that oral health disparities will increase due to the size of primary care outstanding debts, “limiting the potential for early detection of problems.”
Charlotte Waite, head of the BDA’s UK Dental Services Society, said: “Children’s tooth extractions have dropped but the level of demand has not gone anywhere.
“Covid has left behind tens of thousands of years of suffering, and perhaps years, waiting for the care they desperately needed.
“The government still lacks clarity on the extent of the workload and a credible plan to address it.”
Source: Daily Mail
I am Anne Johnson and I work as an author at the Fashion Vibes. My main area of expertise is beauty related news, but I also have experience in covering other types of stories like entertainment, lifestyle, and health topics. With my years of experience in writing for various publications, I have built strong relationships with many industry insiders. My passion for journalism has enabled me to stay on top of the latest trends and changes in the world of beauty.
