Decaying teeth has become a major cause of child dentist extractions since the pandemic.

New figures from the government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) revealed more than 100 Oxford children had rotting teeth removed last year.

Since the Covid pandemic, there has been a significant increase in hospitals removing under 19-year-olds' decaying teeth in England.

Around 293 in every 100,000 children have required a tooth extraction for decay in the last year.

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In the twelve months before March 2022, around 110 children aged 19 or younger in Oxford had at least one tooth removed in hospital due to decay, which is up from 50 the year before and 30 in 2019-20.

Decay accounted for 81 per cent of all procedures in Oxford.

Chairman of the British Dental Association (BDA), Eddie Crouch, said: “Tooth decay is still going unchallenged as the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children.

"Decay and deprivation are going hand in hand, and this inequality is set to widen.

"None of this is inevitable.

"This Government needs to be willing to take off the gloves when it comes to fighting a wholly preventable disease."

The BDA has said it is "deeply concerned that ongoing and severe access problems, together with disruption to public health programmes and lockdown diets" will widen inequalities.

A spokesman added: “The government is failing to deliver on much needed reform and investment.”

Data has shown children living in the most deprived communities are 3.5 times more likely to have teeth out due to decay than those in the most affluent areas.

The total number of extractions still remains below pre-pandemic levels and the BDA has said the data “understates the level of demand, given huge backlogs and only partial recovery of elective services”.

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Tooth decay is the most common reason for hospital admission in children aged six to 10 and nationally 42,200 tooth extractions were conducted on children last year, which is up from 22,500 the year before.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Good oral health is incredibly important and the number of children seen by NHS dentists increased by 44% in the last year.

"Likewise in hospitals, we have seen an increase in hospital operations for tooth extraction for those aged 0-19 as oral healthcare services continue to recover from the pandemic.

"The number of dentists increased by over 500 last year and the government is investing more than £3 billion in NHS dentistry including so people can access services when they need them."