A DISTRICT dentist is warning children with rotting teeth are future diabetics who will clog up hospital beds and other health services in the years to come.

Dr Tony Kilcoyne was speaking out after latest NHS figures revealed the number of tooth extractions in hospital for children aged four and under in Bradford is rising.

Data on the Public Health England website show 168 under four-year-olds in Bradford had teeth taken out in hospital during 2015/16, slightly more than in 2014/15 when 156 procedures were carried out on that age group.

Dr Kilcoyne, whose practice is in Haworth, said rotting teeth in children so young is an “unnecessary tragedy” and could be prevented by tackling general ignorance about oral health.

England wide, the 2015/16 number was 9,306. The number of under fours having those procedures nationally have gone up by almost a quarter in the last decade, rising from 7,444 in 2006/7.

In Bradford there were also 215 hospital dental extractions among five to nine-year-olds in 2015/16, 111 among the ten to 14-year-old group and 107 among 15 to 19-year-olds in that same period.

Dr Kilcoyne said the horrific numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. “It’s going to hit us big , the damage to the NHS will be massive and the social cost will be huge, not to mention all the pain and misery decaying teeth bring and the knock-on consequences of having to take time off work or having missing teeth that can affect success in life. These children are the future diabetics who will be clogging up hospital beds, taking up NHS appointments and resources with other problems caused by too much sugar, hammering their ability to keep making insulin. It’s an unnecessary tragedy because it is totally preventable.”

He also described local health initiatives as valuable but only “paying lip service” to the big problem, comparing them to “pouring a glass of water on a fire.”

Dr Kilcoyne is calling on NHS policy makers to listen to dentists calling for a three-pronged attack on bad oral health among children. They want to see a five year plan to reduce the number of hospital extractions among the young which would include a countrywide national media campaign to education people on better care, getting the food industry to reduce the amount of hidden sugars used in products and a new NHS contract rewarding decay prevention work. “Currently dentists only get paid when something goes wrong,” he said.

Despite NHS dental treatment being free for under-18s, 42 per cent of children across the country did not see a dentist in 2015/16. The top reason why children aged under ten are in hospital is because of rotting teeth, according to Dr Kilcoyne.

Deputy Leader of Bradford Council and portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, Cllr Val Slater said: “No child should have to have a tooth extracted because it’s decayed as it is an entirely preventable condition. I can’t believe any parent wants to put their child through the pain and discomfort associated with tooth ache let alone having one removed in hospital.

“That’s why we’ve been working with families from an early age to help parents understand the importance of having good oral health. Learning to brush teeth properly with a family fluoride toothpaste as soon as they appear, reducing the amount of sugary food and drinks children consume and regular visits to a dentist are steps every parent can take to help ensure their children’s teeth remain healthy.”

A report that the oral health of five-year-olds across the district has been improving at a faster rate than national improvements was sent to Bradford Council’s Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee last October.

The average number of decayed missing and filled teeth in that age group was 1.5 in 2014/15 compared to 1.98 in 2011/12 and 2.42 in 2007/08.

“Although rates of decay, missing and filled teeth in children remains above regional and national averages, the gap has closed during this period,” said the report.

Interventions commissioned by Bradford Council’s department of public health includes a community based fluoride varnish programme for children aged two to four with more than 10,000 children recruited each year as well as a tooth brushing programme in 40 primary schools, 274 childcare settings getting First Steps to Healthy Teeth Award in 2015/16 and around 1,200 children taking part in oral health programmes in Islamic schools, Mosques and Madrassas.