The rise in the number of 5 to 9-year-olds with rotten teeth needing hospital care is a “entirely avoidable public health failure”, leading dental surgeons have said.

The Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) said thousands of hospital admissions “could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist”.

It comes as new NHS figures show that 21,787 children aged 5 to 9 were admitted to hospital in England with tooth decay in 2025/26. This represents a slight rise from the previous year when 21,162 were admitted, RCS England said.

It highlighted how two in five children did not see an NHS dentist last year.

Figures from the NHS Business Services Authority show that in 2025/26 some 7.17 million child patients were seen, around 60% of the child population for England.

Dentists Demand Reform of NHS Contract 

Professor Martyn Cobourne, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, said: “This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Tooth decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are still ending up in hospital every year for treatment that could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist.

“No child should have to suffer pain, miss school, or undergo a hospital procedure because they cannot get the care they need.”

He said parents have a role to play, including ensuring their children brush their teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, attend regular dental check-ups “where possible”, and limit their sugary food and drink intake.

Cobourne added: “But maintaining good oral health also depends on being able to access routine dental care, and too many families are still struggling to secure an NHS dental appointment when they need one.

“Hospitals should not be the first place that a child encounters dental care.

“The Government has committed to fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract. If the Government is serious about fixing NHS dentistry, it needs to deliver a system that places greater emphasis on prevention, improves access for patients, and makes NHS dentistry a more attractive and sustainable place to work.”

Eddie Crouch, chairman of the British Dental Association, added: “Decay can and should be prevented, but instead of catching it early many thousands of children reach the point where they need extractions.

“Ministers have done the right thing on programmes like supervised tooth brushing.

“But we cannot go on without a properly funded, functioning NHS dental service that gives children access to prevention and treatment before their problems become emergencies.

“Both children and taxpayers are paying the price for the lack of political will to fix NHS dentistry.”

Government Points to Signs of Progress 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that so many young children are being taken to hospital with dental emergencies, and that dozens of those children are having to undergo major surgery.

“That situation has been caused by years of neglect and decline, both in the provision of NHS dentistry and in the dental health of young children.

“This Government is working hard to turn that round.

“More children are now seeing an NHS dentist than before the pandemic, and our prevention programme is helping children learn to avoid tooth decay.

“But we know there is much more to do. That’s why we are now training more dentists in areas where they are most needed, and working to reduce the sugar content of children’s food.”