One in five children in Merseyside already has tooth decay by the age of five, as the state of our kids' teeth is laid bare.
In 2019, 22.1% of five-year-olds in our region included in the Public Health England survey of children’s teeth had evidence of tooth decay.
Liverpool had the highest proportion of children with tooth decay, affecting two in five (37.0%), while levels were lowest in Sefton at 29.4%.
Those children with tooth decay in Merseyside had an average of around four rotten teeth each.
The survey found most of the decay was going untreated - only one in 19 decayed teeth (5.1%) had been filled, while 8.8% of decayed teeth had been removed.
Extraction of teeth in young children often involves admission to hospital and a general anaesthetic.
In the report on the figures, PHE said: “Dental decay among young children remains an important public health issue as it leads to pain and distress, sleepless nights for children and parents, and time off school and work.
“Measuring dental decay levels among five-year-olds can give early indication of the success, or otherwise, of interventions aimed at improving the oral and general health of very young children including those designed to improve parenting, children’s weight or overall health or diet.”
Across England, 23.4% of five-year-old children whose parents gave consent for participation in this survey had experience of dental decay.
This was similar to the 23.3% of children with decay in 2017.
However, this was the first rise since the survey began - previously levels of dental decay has fallen from 30.9% in 2008, 27.9% in 2012, and from 24.8% in 2015.
A third of children from more deprived areas (34.3%) had decay, more than double the rate for children from less deprived areas (13.7%).
Among those with decay, the average number of rotten teeth was 3.4.
The survey is carried out in schools, with trained clinicians carrying out a visual examination of teeth for a sample of children.
This means levels of tooth decay could be even higher, as only visually obvious decay was recorded, not any that was below the surface.
