Tooth decay remains the most common cause of childhood hospital admissions, according to newly-published NHS England data.
The figures show that 21,162 children aged 5 to 9 were admitted to hospital for tooth decay in 2024/2025. This was was 65% higher than the next most common cause, which was acute tonsillitis at 13,667 admissions.
The number of children in this age bracket admitted for tooth decay has also risen slightly on the previous year.
‘Tooth decay is entirely preventable’
Charlotte Eckhardt, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England), called these findings ‘a public health emergency’.
She said: ‘Tooth decay is entirely preventable, yet thousands of children are hospitalised every year for procedures that could have been avoided with simple daily habits and better access to an NHS dentist. The government’s dental contract must be boldly overhauled if they want to improve patient access and outcomes.
‘Every child in hospital with tooth decay is proof that prevention has failed. We must act now to spare children needless pain, time off school, and avoidable surgery.’
Dr Eckhardt also suggested some ways that the government could improve children’s oral health. She said: ‘The government’s commitment to supervised toothbrushing schemes is welcome, but it is not a fix-all solution. The programme must be sustained, not a one-off, reaching as many children as possible and helping families build lasting brushing habits at home.
‘We also urge the government to strengthen the Soft Drinks Industry Levy by lowering the sugar threshold from 5g to 4g per 100ml and extending it to milk-based drinks. This would be a major step towards protecting children’s oral health.’
‘The severity of dental disease is getting worse’
Dental professionals have responded to the hospitalisation data with concern. Paediatric dental surgeon Sondos Albadri said: ‘As a consultant in paediatric dentistry with 15 years of experience and in an area of deprivation, I have seen a worrying trend. Instead of declining, the number of children requiring dental extractions continues to rise, with waiting lists for general anaesthetic procedures growing longer each year.
‘The severity of dental disease is getting worse, with many children presenting with multiple affected teeth and alarmingly, I now see children losing their permanent teeth at an early age due to extensive, preventable, decay.’
RCS England also cited statistics released by NHS Business Services Authority which suggest 43% of children have not seen an NHS dentist in the past year. Combined with the hospitalisation figures, it said ‘reveals a deeply troubling picture of children’s oral health in England’.
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