More than two in five children have rotting teeth in Burnley

The British Dental Association said there has been "no progress" on the rollout of Labour manifesto pledges to deliver prevention programmes in schools and tackle the "crisis" in NHS dentistry.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities data relates to five-year-olds with any enamel and dentinal decay. It reveals an estimated 41.9% of five-year-olds in Burnley had dental decay in the 2023-24 academic year.

Across England, this stood at 26.9% last year – a slight improvement from 29.3% in the previous survey of the cohort in 2021-22.

The British Dental Association said there has been "no progress" on the rollout of Labour manifesto pledges to "fix the failed contract fuelling the crisis in NHS dentistry".

Chairman Eddie Crouch said: "This oral health gap was made in Westminster, with children paying the price for official failure to take dentistry seriously. A new Government calls this 'Dickensian', but it will take deeds not words to turn this around."

David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association's community wellbeing board, said untreated dental issues are one of the leading causes of hospital admissions for children and teenagers, with over 31,000 operations in 2023 to remove rotten teeth.

He added: "Alarmingly, these figures highlight stark inequalities in oral health. Children living in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to experience dental decay compared to those in the least deprived areas."

He urged the Government to use the upcoming spending review to invest in council-run oral health improvement programmes, which he says are proven to help children develop healthy oral hygiene habits.