UK - Sheffield next?

Kids' teeth shock toll
Rotten to the core: Children in poorer areas have six times as many fillings as more wealthy children
CHILDREN'S teeth in Sheffield are as bad today as they were 10 years ago, a shock new report has revealed.And the gap between the dental health of children living in deprived and affluent areas is showing no signs of closing.The report reveals a sixfold difference in the amount of fillings and extractions carried out on city children aged up to 11.The average child in Gleadless Valley has three missing or damaged teeth while in Ecclesall youngsters of the same age have half a decaying tooth.Health chiefs believe drastic action is needed - and adding fluoride to the water supply could dramatically reduce tooth decay in city children.
"There has been no change in dental health in the last 10 years," warned John Green, director of Dental Public Health at Sheffield Primary Care Trust, the author of the report into children's dental health and dental services in Sheffield."Improvements we have seen in the 80s and 90s have stopped. "This is a big problem as we are not getting any further and the inequalities are as great as ever," he said.
Use of fluoride toothpaste has helped reduce levels of tooth decay, which has been even more marked in areas where fluoride is added to tap water.
Sheffield Council has so far rejected requests from health chiefs to add the chemical to tap water.

Opponents claim it is damaging to health and denies people the choice of what is in drinking water.
Rotherham Council is currently considering whether to approve fluoridation for its water supply.But Mr Green said tooth decay in children is half as common in areas where fluoride has been added to the water supply over the last 30 years - such as the West Midlands and Lincolnshire which have similar levels of deprivation as Sheffield."The answer is not more dentists, fluoride has the most effect," said Mr Green, who presented his findings to a meeting of Sheffield Council's Children and Young Person Scrutiny and Policy Board.
Coun Pat White questioned if fluoride is known to have any ill effects on health, including on kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. But Mr Green said there was no evidence that the chemical, which is used in small quantities, causes ill health. Statistics shows the split between the dental health of wealthy and poor children in Sheffield is very marked."Half of city's five-year-olds have no decay, while the other half have a lot of it. If you have decay, it is likely a lot of teeth, as many as five or six, will be affected.
"This is a disease of poverty. If you are living on a low income you many not be able to afford healthy food and you have many other problems, so dental health is not such a priority." Most five-year-olds with decayed teeth are not receiving treatment. Areas in north and south east Sheffield, such as Manor, Burngreave, Gleadless and Arbourthorne, are worst for dental health.
Children in north Sheffield are more likely to have teeth extracted than filled. That could be because they are not seen until the tooth has decayed, or parental choice.Parents are encouraged to use fluoride toothpaste. About 2,000 of our 50,000 children have fluoridated milk.There are concerns about the availability of NHS dentistry under the new NHS contract. Only 10 per cent of dentists are taking new patients. Other surgeries have longer waits for check ups than before.

Going by the above if you increased the poorer people's income the dental health problem with their children would be solved. Most likely it would become worse as it would enable them to buy more of the wrong food.
Healthy food is usually cheaper than ready made and they don't have to drink from cans of fizzy acid.