UK - A third of under-fives in (Fluoridated) Birmingham already have rotting teeth

A third of under-fives in Birmingham already have rotting teeth, shock figures show
by Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail
Jun 7 2011
NHS workers have now launched special action into the damning state of tooth decay in the city.
Latest rates of dental decay sent a warning shot to dentists and health bosses as it showed a third of five-year-olds in Birmingham have decayed or missing or fillings.
It comes as numbers of people seeing an NHS dentist have plummeted and obesity in the city’s children is among the worst in the UK as they over-indulge in sugar-packed fatty foods. Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s under-fives team has been using giant tooth brushes and teeth as props to drill into children the dental hygiene habits that can last a lifetime.
Jasmin Frater, postnatal co-ordinator for the Trust’s under fives programme, said: “Parents need to help children get into healthy habits early on in their life.
“Having a healthy mouth, tongue, teeth and gums is very important for a child’s development.
“The best way to combat dental problems is to prevent them from occurring in the first place.”
In March, it emerged that nearly 50,000 fewer city residents were seeing an NHS dentist compared to five years ago with innercity suburbs hit the hardest.
Birmingham Local Dental Committee blamed a “failure” of the dental contract changes in 2006.
Nearly one in every seven schoolchildren aged four to five in inner-city areas is now clinically obese, and one in every ten in north, east and south Birmingham.
Parents are being urged to reduce the amount and frequency of sugar consumed by their children and to ensure they brush their teeth twice a day, once last thing at night and in the morning before breakfast, using a pea size amount of fluoride toothpaste.
Parents are also advised to supervise children under seven when brushing their teeth and to make sure they see a dentist regularly for check-ups.

In Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country (97%) are fluoridated.