Fury as 3,000 children go to A&E with tooth decay in dental 'national scandal'

Nearly 3,000 children ended up in A&E with tooth decay last year as calls grow for the Government to tackle "dental deserts".

Damning figures show 2,800 under-18s were among 16,100 people who went to accident and emergency departments with acute problems with their teeth. The number of youngsters has shot up by a fifth compared to five years ago.

The , who obtained the data under the Freedom of Information Act have branded it a "national scandal". Researchers found 2,784 under 18s attended A&E due to tooth decay, a slight fall on the previous year but up 18% compared to 2019.

At least 93,400 patients have gone to A&E with issues relating to tooth decay since 2019, the figures show. The is calling for everyone to have access to an dentist, and a cash injection to tackle a dangerous lack of resources across the country.

The Government has warned that tooth decay is the most common reasons for children between five and nine being admitted to hospital. But have accused of showing a "lack of ambition" in tackling the problem.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokeswoman Helen Morgan MP said: "It is a national scandal that children are ending up in A&E in agony because they can’t get a dentist appointment. Parents are being forced to watch their little ones cry through the night, all because the NHS dental system has been left to rot.

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"We’re now seeing vast swathes of the country being turned into dental deserts, with no sign of things getting better. The Conservatives had years to fix this crisis, but instead their neglect only led to it spiralling out of control. Now, the Labour government is showing a devastating lack of ambition to turn things around. Our children deserve better."

The Government has pledged to tackle the UK's dental crisis. has backed supervised tooth brushing in schools after saying he was appalled by the number of children going to hospital with tooth decay.

In February ministers announced 700,000 people living in pain will get seen by an dentist. It has written to the NHS to instruct it to stand up the extra urgent appointments in areas where patients particularly struggle to access NHS dentists, such as Norfolk and Waveney, where there are just 31 NHS dentists for every 100,000 people – way below the national average.

The announcement was a huge win for The Mirror's Dentists for All campaign.

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