Inside Health
BBC Radio 4
Categories: Health
Listen to the last episode:
In the UK, around a third of British children have tooth decay. Just among the under-fives, it's a quarter - a figure that rises significantly in the most deprived areas.
Tooth decay can cause speech development issues, embarrassment for children and in 2023, 15 million school days were missed due to tooth pain or treatment. There’s a financial cost too – in 2023 in England alone tooth extractions under a general anaesthetic cost the NHS £41 million.
And it's totally preventable.
So, how can we stop teeth rotting in the first place? One way initiative announced by the new Labour government is to expand supervised toothbrushing sessions to more children. We find out how these work with Oral Health Team Lead Helen Bullingham who supports nurseries and schools in East Sussex to deliver these programmes.
But what about the evidence to support this intervention? Zoe Marshman, Professor of Dental Public Health at University of Sheffield, explains her findings and dental hygienist and researcher at King's College London Dr Claire McCarthy describes what parents should be doing, in an ideal world, at home.
And finally, what role does sugar play and how can we get consumption down? Dr Nina Rogers from the Population Health Innovation Lab at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine explains her findings into the impact of the Sugar Drinks Industry Levy introduced in 2018.
Presenter: James Gallagher Producers: Hannah Robins Content Editor: Holly Squire
Inside Health is a BBC Wales & West production for Radio 4, produced in partnership with The Open University.
Previous episodes
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382 - Can supervised toothbrushing fix the children's dental crisis? Tue, 19 Nov 2024
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381 - Olympian Sir Chris Hoy wants more tests for prostate cancer - should it happen? Tue, 12 Nov 2024
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380 - What next for Alzheimer's treatment? Tue, 05 Nov 2024
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379 - Focus on the breath Tue, 29 Oct 2024
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378 - How does embarrassment affect your health? Tue, 22 Oct 2024
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377 - Changing the lives of children with rare genetic diseases Wed, 16 Oct 2024
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376 - Cancer vaccine trials and planning for cyber attacks Tue, 27 Aug 2024
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375 - Mpox, your statins questions and tick-borne meat allergies Tue, 20 Aug 2024
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374 - What should we do about vaping? Tue, 13 Aug 2024
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373 - Can diet and exercise ever replace statins? Tue, 06 Aug 2024
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372 - How can we age well? Tue, 30 Jul 2024
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371 - Is watching sport good for you? Tue, 23 Jul 2024
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370 - What does alcohol do to the body and brain? Tue, 07 May 2024
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369 - Are more young people getting cancer? Tue, 30 Apr 2024
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368 - Can insomnia be fixed? Tue, 23 Apr 2024
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367 - We go on a tick hunt Tue, 16 Apr 2024
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366 - New HIV test, Vitamin D and TB, Vitamin B12, mouth ulcers Tue, 04 Sep 2012
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365 - BP reax, fibroids, access to notes, botox Tue, 28 Aug 2012
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364 - Over-diagnosis: High Blood Pressure Tue, 21 Aug 2012
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363 - Over-diagnosis: Chronic Kidney Disease Tue, 14 Aug 2012
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362 - Steroids, the killing season, telehealth, Dupuytren's Tue, 07 Aug 2012
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361 - Liver disease, Hepatitis C Tue, 31 Jul 2012
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360 - GP Access, Telehealth, ICU, Sewage Tue, 24 Jul 2012
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359 - Whooping cough, Cardiac screening, Antibacterials, Selfcare, Xbox Tue, 17 Jul 2012
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358 - Coughs, vocal cord dysfunction and athletes, taste and smell, waiting room toys Tue, 10 Jul 2012
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357 - GI bleeds, pregnancy and working, frozen shoulder, patient surveys Tue, 03 Jul 2012
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356 - Teenage depression, Choir, Heart failure, Protein shakes Tue, 24 Apr 2012
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355 - Whooping cough, maternal deaths, blushing, intestinal transit Tue, 17 Apr 2012
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354 - Morphine and the heart, antibiotics and the appendix, sick notes, blood tests, painkillers Tue, 10 Apr 2012
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353 - Prescription charges, HPV vaccine, tattoos, cycle helmets Tue, 03 Apr 2012
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352 - Aspirin, holiday sickness, ADHD Tue, 27 Mar 2012
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351 - PCOS, garlic, PSA test, dignity Tue, 20 Mar 2012
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350 - Red meat and heart health, carbon monoxide, screening, joints supplements Tue, 13 Mar 2012
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349 - Vitiligo, diabetes care, knee implants, masks, social media Tue, 06 Mar 2012
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348 - Sleep tabs death, e-cigs, GP examples, underactive thyroid and pregnancy Tue, 28 Feb 2012
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347 - Anti-smoking incentives, ACE inhibitor cough, Raynaud's, fizzy drinks Tue, 21 Feb 2012
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346 - Patient records, cholesterol, statins, whiplash Tue, 14 Feb 2012
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345 - Hospital infections, nutrition, gout, gluten, Shockwave, tennis elbow Tue, 07 Feb 2012
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344 - Pseudomonas, anti-coags, alcohol, pres drugs, high heels Tue, 31 Jan 2012
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343 - NHS bill, tinnitus, pedestrians, teenage info, Vitamin D, cough mix Tue, 24 Jan 2012
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342 - Health bill, Memory, Resuscitation, Flu Tue, 17 Jan 2012
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341 - Med devices, Testosterone, Itching, BP, Pills, Tourette's Tue, 10 Jan 2012
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340 - Is intermittent fasting good for you? Tue, 09 Apr 2024
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339 - Can noise harm our health? Tue, 02 Apr 2024
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338 - Coffee, nap, rave, repeat... Tue, 13 Feb 2024
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337 - Why recovering from long Covid is a lot like training for the Olympics Tue, 06 Feb 2024
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336 - A guide to the perimenopause Tue, 30 Jan 2024
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335 - Speedy medicine, and is fermented food good for us? Tue, 23 Jan 2024
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334 - Bladder, bowels and sex: Learning to live after my mountain accident Tue, 16 Jan 2024
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333 - Living in a Bacterial World Tue, 09 Jan 2024