Hospital tooth extractions in 0 to 19 year olds 2022
Published 23 February 2023
Applies to England
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Main findings
For the financial year 2021 to 2022 there were 42,180 episodes of tooth extractions in NHS hospitals for 0 to 19 year olds.
There were 26,741 episodes of tooth extractions with a primary diagnosis of dental caries (tooth decay) for 0 to 19 year olds. This represents 63% of all tooth extractions for this age group.
There has been an 83% increase in the number of episodes of caries-related tooth extractions in hospital for 0 to 19 year olds compared to the previous financial year of 2020 to 2021. This increase is likely to reflect a partial recovery of hospital services following the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were variations in caries-related tooth extraction episode rates across the regions with the highest rates occurring in Yorkshire and the Humber (378 per 100,000 population of 0 to 19 year olds) and the lowest rates occurring in the East Midlands (71 per 100,000 population of 0 to 19 year olds). The England rate was 205 per 100,000 population of 0 to 19 year olds.
The caries-related tooth extraction episode rate for children and young people living in the most deprived communities was nearly 3 and a half times that of those living in the most affluent communities.
Tooth decay was still the most common reason for hospital admission in children aged between 6 and 10 years.
The costs to the NHS of hospital admissions for tooth extractions in children aged 0 to 19 years have been estimated based on the latest NHS national cost collection data. The costs were £81.0 million for all tooth extractions and £50.9 million for caries-related tooth extractions in the financial year 2021 to 2022. This is a significant increase compared with the costs in the previous financial year 2020 to 2021, and is likely to be due to a combination of recovery of services following the COVID-19 pandemic and increased NHS unit costs.
Trends in hospital tooth extraction episodes
Figure 1: number of tooth extraction episodes in the last 10 years by extraction category
| Financial Year | Caries extractions episodes | Non-caries extractions episodes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 to 2013 | 39,888 | 20,795 | 60,683 |
| 2013 to 2014 | 41,282 | 21,320 | 62,602 |
| 2014 to 2015 | 42,209 | 20,987 | 63,196 |
| 2015 to 2016 | 39,278 | 21,083 | 60,361 |
| 2016 to 2017 | 39,346 | 21,955 | 61,301 |
| 2017 to 2018 | 38,385 | 20,929 | 59,314 |
| 2018 to 2019 | 37,404 | 21,607 | 59,011 |
| 2019 to 2020 | 35,190 | 19,947 | 55,137 |
| 2020 to 2021 | 14,645 | 7,904 | 22,549 |
| 2021 to 2022 | 26,741 | 15,439 | 42,180 |
There has been a steady decrease in the number of tooth extraction episodes since the 2014 to 2015 financial year. The large decrease in 2020 to 2021 was likely due to services being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in tooth extractions since 2021 is likely due to the partial recovery of services following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 2: caries tooth extraction episode rates per 100,000 population of 0 to 19 year olds by region for the financial year 2021 to 2022
| Region | Tooth extraction episode rate per 100,000 population |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 378 |
| North East | 369 |
| North West | 312 |
| London | 271 |
| South West | 217 |
| England | 205 |
| South East | 114 |
| East of England | 95 |
| West Midlands | 88 |
| East Midlands | 71 |
The rates in Yorkshire and the Humber are over 5 times that of the East Midlands.
Caries tooth extraction episodes by region and year
Figure 3: caries-related hospital tooth extraction episodes for 0 to 19 year olds by region and financial year
The number of tooth extraction episodes across all regions for the financial year 2021 to 2022 is higher than the previous year, but the levels are still lower than the pre-pandemic figures.
Tooth extraction episode rates per 100,000 population of 0 to 19 year olds by index of multiple deprivation (IMD) 2019 quintiles for the financial year 2021 to 2022
Figure 4: caries-related tooth extraction episode rates per 100,000 population of 0 to 19 year olds by IMD 2019 deprivation quintile population (1 is the most deprived quintile, 5 is the least deprived)
| Deprivation quintile | Tooth extraction episode rate per 100,000 population |
|---|---|
| 1 | 329 |
| 2 | 230 |
| 3 | 167 |
| 4 | 135 |
| 5 | 95 |
| England | 201 |
The caries-related tooth extraction rate for children and young people living in the most deprived communities was nearly 3.5 times that of those living in the most affluent communities.