Tooth decay among children in West Berkshire is below national average

Five-year-olds in West Berkshire have an average of three decayed teeth each.

This compares with 3.4 in the South East and 3.5 in England in 2021/22.

Among those five-year-olds who did not have any tooth decay, there were an average of 0.5 decayed, missing or filled teeth in West Berkshire, compared to 0.7 in the South East and 0.8 in England.

The Extraction Index, which explores teeth with dental decay that have been pulled out, found that 2.2 per cent of decayed teeth had been extracted in West Berkshire among five-year-olds, compared with 3.9 per cent in the South East and 6.4 per cent in England,

The percentage in West Berkshire was significantly lower than the England average.

In 2022/23, a survey was carried out among Year 6 children (10-11-year-olds).

Although West Berkshire did not take part in the survey, results for England found that 16.2 per cent of children had experience of tooth decay.

In 2022/23, there were 130 tooth extractions in NHS hospitals for 0-19-year-olds in West Berkshire.