Dentists are being forced to send thousands of children to hospital to pull out their rotting teeth.
Figures reveal 29,000 youngsters under 14 in Yorkshire have been admitted to hospital for the removal of multiple teeth over the past four years – about 142 a week.
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said a trend of rewarding children with sweets and failing to clean them properly as infants was behind the depressing trend.
“If it gets as far as needing to go to hospital for general anaesthetic then you’re talking about multiple extractions,” he said.
“It’s not unusual for a child to have 12 to 14 teeth taken out and in some cases we’ve heard of all 20 baby teeth being removed.
“The rise is absolutely incredible and is indicative of a massive failure in parenting.
“Partly it is down to background and people from lower socio-economic groups have higher levels of tooth decay.
“It has to be about parenting and looking after children.”
He added: “It just beggars belief that a parent wouldn’t have noticed their child’s teeth have rotted down to the gums. It is child neglect basically.”
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