Department of Oral Surgery, University of Leeds School of Dentistry, Worsley Building, Clarendon Way, Leeds, LS2 9LU, UK.
Br Dent J. 2021 May;230(9):611-616. doi: 10.1038/s41415-021-2945-8. Epub 2021 May 14.
Dental caries is a largely preventable disease, yet the extraction of carious teeth is the most common reason for the hospital admission of children in England. This raises concern over the perceived failure of current preventive strategies. Despite a number of national and local preventive strategies, childhood caries remains most prevalent among the lower socioeconomic groups and ethnic minorities, especially in northern England. Often overlooked is the social and emotional impact of caries and dental treatment on the children and their families. More long-lasting can be the emotional, psychological and developmental impact on children of dental treatment and extractions under general anaesthesia, especially in unfamiliar hospital settings. Yet, the number of hospital admissions for the 5-9-year-old age group continues to rise and was 26,000 in England in 2018. The aim of this paper is to review the demographic and socioeconomic factors related to hospital admission of children for dental extractions, focusing on the localities with the highest proportions of hospital admissions. It is suggested that a reappraisal of the caries-preventive strategy in those areas of England with the highest proportion of hospital admissions is now urgently needed and the case is forcefully made for targeted water fluoridation.
龋齿在很大程度上是可以预防的疾病，但在英格兰，儿童因龋齿而拔牙是住院的最常见原因。这让人对现行预防策略的效果产生了质疑。尽管有许多国家和地方的预防策略，但儿童龋齿仍然在社会经济地位较低的群体和少数族裔中最为普遍，尤其是在英格兰北部。人们常常忽视龋齿和牙科治疗对儿童及其家庭的社会和情感影响。更持久的可能是牙科治疗和全身麻醉下拔牙对儿童的情感、心理和发育的影响，尤其是在不熟悉的医院环境中。然而，5-9 岁年龄组的住院人数仍在持续上升，2018 年在英格兰达到 2.6 万。本文旨在回顾与儿童因拔牙而住院相关的人口统计学和社会经济学因素，重点关注住院人数比例最高的地区。有人建议，现在迫切需要对英格兰住院人数比例最高的地区的龋齿预防策略进行重新评估，并强烈主张有针对性地进行水氟化。
