Lead dental surgeon warns ‘now is not the time to scrap the sugar tax’, as almost 30,000 children and young people are admitted to hospital for tooth decay

Tooth decay remains the main reason for hospitals admissions among 5 to 9 year olds, according to data published by NHS Digital today. Following a decrease during the pandemic, the number of 5-9 year olds requiring tooth extractions in hospital rose to 16,959 in 2021-22 (compared to 9,429 in 2020-21). In total, almost 30,000 children and young people aged between 0-19 were admitted to hospital because of tooth decay in 2021-22.¹

Today’s figures are lower than pre-COVID tooth extraction rates (which were 23,529 extractions in 2019-20). However, this indicates that secondary care dentistry is still recovering following the pandemic with many children still waiting to see a hospital dentist, rather than that the issue of tooth decay is improving. Dentists across the country are working incredibly hard to tackle the backlog and ensure that children and young people receive treatment as quickly as possible.

In recent weeks, there have been reports that the government plans to scrap the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on fizzy drinks, more commonly known as the sugar tax. There have been discussions that plans for a ban on ‘buy one get one free’ deals on unhealthy food will not go ahead. There are also rumoured delays to restrictions on junk food advertising.

The sugar tax is an extremely successful policy that has reduced the amount of sugar in soft drinks by 30% and removed 48,000 kilos of sugar from the nation's diet. It has also raised over £1 billion which funds school breakfast clubs, school holiday programmes, as well as sports and PE equipment for primary schools.

Commenting on today’s figures, Mr Matthew Garrett, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, said:

“Unfortunately, today’s statistics are not surprising. Tooth decay is consistently the main reason children aged 5 to 9 are admitted to hospital, and yet tooth decay is almost completely preventable. It is completely unacceptable that there have been almost 30,000 hospital admissions for tooth decay in the past year.

“Now is not the time to scrap the sugar tax and other initiatives which could improve the nation’s oral health. Rather than rolling back on these crucial sugar reduction policies, we need urgent action to go further. Children’s oral health should be a key part of the government’s long awaited Health Disparities White Paper. This should also include a comprehensive strategy that provides real investment in prevention programmes such as supervised tooth brushing schemes and reformulation of sugary products. We strongly recommend that the government reconsiders any plans to weaken these crucial public health measures.”

Notes to editors

1. Number of children admitted to hospital due to tooth decay broken down by age group:

2. NHS Digital’s Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, 2021-22 is published here: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity/2021-22

3. Figures were taken from the “Diagnosis” dataset of Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity.

4. The Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England is committed to enabling dentists and specialists to provide patients with the highest possible standards of practice and care.

5. For more information, please contact the Press Office:

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