More than 36,000 children are admitted to hospital with tooth decay each year and the number is rising, new figures have revealed.
It is now the third most common reason children are admitted to hospital after a rise of 13 per cent over five years, the data obtained by the Conservatives shows.
But Labour’s Health Minister Ben Bradshaw accused the Tories of distorting the statistics.
He said the increase was a result of the introduction of a ban on dentists carrying out general anaesthetics, which came into force in 2001.
There were a total of 36,530 admissions in 2006/07 among youngsters aged 16 and under, Health Minister Ann Keen said in a Parliamentary answer.
In contrast, figures for 2001/02 showed that tooth decay did not even feature in the five most frequent main diagnoses.
Mr Bradshaw said: ‘Once again, the Tories are distorting figures to try to score a political point.’
He added that the total number of dental operations carried out under general anaesthetic had gone down since the 1990s.
Shadow health minister Mike Penning said: ‘Labour’s decade in charge of NHS dentistry has resulted in a significant deterioration in the country’s dental health.
‘In particular, Labour have completely failed to make any meaningful progress in terms of preventative dentistry.
‘Regrettably, with a new contract that woefully neglects prevention, these problems will only get worse in the future.
‘Labour needs to stop dithering and take action to sort out the mess they have created of NHS dentistry.
‘A good place to start would be to admit their mistakes and scrap the botched dental contract.’
In 2006/07, the two most common reasons for admission among children were acute upper respiratory infections, followed by premature birth and low birthweight.
Dental caries (tooth decay) came next, followed by viral infections and acute tonsillitis.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: ‘These allegations are misleading.
‘The use of general anaesthesia in dentistry was moved from dental practices to hospitals as a safety measure in 2001 and the hospital admission statistics simply reflect this.
‘Preventative oral healthcare has actually improved substantially thanks to the new dental contract.
‘Dentists are now carrying out more fluoride varnishes than ever before and recent statistics from the World Health Organisation show that our 12-year-olds have the healthiest teeth in Europe.
‘To claim we are doing nothing on preventative dentistry is simply wrong.
‘All NHS dental practices now have access to evidence-based practical guidance on effective preventative treatments.’
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