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Quarter of five-year-olds have had tooth decay latest figures reveal

Almost one in four young children have experienced tooth decay by the time they are five, Government figures have revealed amid concerns that children and families are struggling to access NHS dentists.
Bright Stars nursery group is working with the Dental Wellness Trust to education children about maintaining healthy teeth.
Bright Stars nursery group is working with the Dental Wellness Trust to education children about maintaining healthy teeth.

The government’s National Dental Epidemiology Programme survey for the school year 2021/22, shows that 23.7 per cent of five-year-old children have experienced tooth decay.

This is marginally up on the 23.4 per cent of those of the same age who had experienced the same problems when the government survey was previously carried out in 2019.

Almost two in five (38.7 per cent) of children aged five in the North West have experienced tooth decay, the most of any English region.

Meanwhile in the South West 23.3 per cent of young children have had such problems with their teeth, the lowest proportion of any region in England.

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