London - Sugary foods and drinks should carry cigarette-style warning pictures to highlight the risk they pose to children’s teeth, according to a senior dental surgeon.
Nigel Hunt, dean of the Royal College of Surgeons’ dental faculty, said a “frightening” number of children had had decayed teeth removed. “We are reaching crisis point in terms of the number of children needing to go into the dental hospitals for full-blown general anaesthetics for extraction,” said the professor.
“Almost 26 000 general anaesthetics are being given to five- to nine-year-old children every year to have teeth out. We are talking frightening figures and the services just can’t cope. At many centres, children are having to wait six months to have a general anaesthetic and there is one, in fact, that is over a year.”
Hospitals are reportedly running extra operations at evenings and weekends to deal with the 46 500 children admitted each year to have teeth removed under general anaesthetic after they are destroyed by sugar.
He told the Sunday Times that pictures could have a big impact on getting the message across.
Daily Mail