Dentists are pulling out rotten teeth from 1,000 children a month who have yet to even reach their sixth birthday, shocking statistics show.
Huge overconsumption of sugar means nine in every 10 tooth extractions for under-fives are for tooth decay, Public Health England figures show.
Experts said the numbers were 'horrifying' and blamed the fact youngsters eat nearly three times the recommended daily limit of sugar.
Children aged five and under accounted for 14,545 tooth extractions in 2017/18 in England, with most of those - 12,783 - being for tooth decay.
Older children were also affected, with tooth extraction the most common hospital procedure among six to 10-year-olds in England.
Children aged five and under accounted for 14,545 tooth extractions in 2017/18 in England, with most of those - 12,783 - being for tooth decay
And more than 60,000 days of school are missed because children are having rotten teeth taken out in hospital.
Among all children aged up to the age of 19, some 38,385 procedures were carried out to remove decaying teeth, although this was down slightly on the 39,010 the year before.
Nevertheless, around 105 children per day are having teeth removed in hospital because of tooth decay that is preventable.
Officials urged parents to watch their children's sugar intake.
They said most youngsters consume the equivalent of 13 teaspoons of sugar a day - far more than the recommended limit of five teaspoons.
Professor Michael Escudier, from the Royal College of Surgeons, said: 'The figures published today by Public Health England are horrifying.
'Tens of thousands of young children are having to go through the distressing experience of having their teeth removed under general anaesthetic for a problem that is 90 per cent avoidable.'
The amount of sugar a person should eat in a day depends on how old they are.
Children aged four to six years old should be limited to a maximum of 19 grams per day.
Seven to 10-year-olds should have no more than 24 grams, and children aged 11 and over should have 30g or less.
Popular snacks contain a surprising amount of sugar and even a single can of Coca Cola (35g of sugar) or one Mars bar (33g) contains more than the maximum amount of sugar a child should have over a whole day.
A bowl of Frosties contains 24g of sugar, meaning a 10-year-old who has Frosties for breakfast has probably reached their limit for the day before they even leave the house.
Children who eat too much sugar risk damaging their teeth, putting on fat and becoming overweight, and getting type 2 diabetes which increases the risk of heart disease and cancer.
Source: NHS
Dr Sandra White of Public Health England said: 'Children are consuming far too much sugar
