England launches HK$110 million campaign to tackle dental health crisis
England recently launched a national campaign to teach children in schools and nurseries how to brush their teeth properly.
The nation is dealing with a dental health crisis. In some deprived areas, up to six in 10 children have rotting teeth by the age of five, according to official data.
Concern over the state of children's teeth comes amid a population-wide emergency in dental services.
People are resorting to 'Victorian-era' solutions, such as pulling out their own teeth.
'One in five five-year-olds have tooth decay in the UK,' Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X.
The scheme is expected to reach 600,000 children aged between three and five years.
The British Dental Association (BDA) said around 12 million people are looking for a National Health Service (NHS) dentist providing free care.
An increasing number of practitioners are turning their backs on the NHS in favour of private practice.
The UK has 49 dentists per 100,000 people.
The £11 million (HK$110 million) initiative for supervised tooth brushing will target the country's most deprived areas.
Brushing your teeth properly with fluoride toothpaste twice daily for about two minutes helps keep the teeth and mouth healthy (see graphic).
The scheme could save the state-run NHS millions by reducing the number of children who need hospital care to have bad teeth extracted.
'Supervised tooth-brushing is a tried and tested policy that will save children from pain and our NHS a fortune,' said BDA chairman Eddie Crouch.
Agence France-Presse
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