Concerns over number of Wiltshire children having teeth removed at hospital
The British Dental Association is demanding stronger action from Government
Dental experts in the South West have raised concerns over the number of children needing a tooth extraction at hospital.
In 2024, hospital's serving Wiltshire patients treated 1,554 people under the age of 19 for a tooth to be removed.
Great Western Hospital saw 487 patients under the age of 19 attend an appointment for a tooth removal in 2024, Salisbury District Hospital saw 432 procedures take place.
At Royal United Hospital in Bath, which serves patients living in Wiltshire, 635 patients under the age of 18 visited the hospital for a tooth extraction.
It comes as the British Dental Association has criticised the government’s plans of rolling out 700,000 extra dental appointments earlier this week.
Ian Mills, South West spokesperson for the BDA, said: “The vast majority of dental disease is preventable, whether that is decay or gum disease. And for years we’ve been saying that we need to focus on prevention.
“Particularly with young children, we need to stop them from going through the trauma of having a general anaesthetic and having their teeth removed”.
According to the BDA’s latest figures, the extra appointments will cover only one third of the country’s current need for urgent dental treatment.
They estimate that there is a total of 2.2 million people each year who struggle to get an NHS dentist appointment.
This equates to 3.5% of the total population.
Shiv Pabary, chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee, said: "So, it seems a new Government discovered the need for urgent care, but chose just to cover a third of it. This is austerity on stilts.
"Rather than eliminating DIY dentistry, the Treasury is ensuring we keep seeing horrors that belong in the Victorian era.
"Ministers have a moral responsibility to ensure no patient is ever left in this position".
Across Swindon and Wiltshire, a total of around 14,000 extra appointments are set to be rolled out from April onwards.
But according to Ian Mills, the issues around dental health care are not this easily tackled.
“Particularly in the South West, we have a real workforce problem. So, it’s not just the lack of funding or the NHS contract. It’s also the challenge of recruiting and retaining a workforce in the South West and within the NHS”.
The Government says it's committed to reforming NHS dentistry.