More than HALF under-fours didn't see a dentist last year and could be left ...

More than half of children under the age of four didn't see an NHS dentist last year, figures show.

Parents are advised to make sure young children are seen as soon as their first teeth appear.

Following that, health regulators say parents should schedule another check-up by the age of one, and then follow-ups at least every 12 months.

If not, the risks associated could not only be damning for a child's baby teeth, but have long-term consequences later in life, experts said. 

Six in ten children aged between one and four didn't see an NHS dentist last year, analysis of NHS Digital data showed

Six in ten children aged between one and four didn't see an NHS dentist last year, analysis of NHS Digital data showed

NHS Digital data, analysed by the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons, found that 57.7 per cent of under four-year-olds did not see the dentist in 2018.

Overall, 41.4 per cent of children, up to the age of 17, did not attend an NHS dentist appointment last year.

Some 32.7 per cent of five to nine-year-olds didn't, and 27.6 per cent of ten to fourteen-year-olds didn't. 

The findings echo previous research that too many children are at risk of needing dental work at a young age because their parents haven't taken them to the dentist soon enough. 

Professor Michael Escudier, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons said: 'It's disappointing that nearly six in 10 one to four-year-olds did not see an NHS dentist last year. 

'Children who experience early childhood tooth decay are much more likely to develop subsequent problems, including an increased risk of further decay in both their baby and permanent teeth. 

RISING NUMBER OF BRITISH CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL WITH ROTTEN TEETH

Growing numbers of children with tooth decay are being admitted to hospital, damning figures show.

More than 26,000 children aged five to nine were taken to hospital in the past year because of rotten teeth, NHS figures in September revealed.

The number has risen for the second year in a row and is more than double the amount of children who needed treatment for tonsillitis.

Experts say the figures are 'disgraceful' and have blamed the UK's sugar obsession for ruining children's teeth as well as fuelling rising levels of childhood obesity.

There were a total of 26,111 hospital admissions for tooth decay among five to nine-year-olds in 2017/18, data shows, up from 25,923 in 2016/17 and 25,875 in

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