A York dental clinic is offering more NHS appointments to tackle “unacceptable” levels of tooth decay among children.
Blossom Family Dental Care, located on Blossom Street, said it aims to register more children for NHS treatment to detect decay early and prevent hospitalisation.
The move follows data showing that children in Yorkshire and the Humber have the highest rate of tooth extractions due to decay in the country. NHS figures for 2025 revealed 504 per 100,000 children (up to age 19) in the region had decayed teeth removed in hospital. Nationwide, 56,143 extractions were performed—a 14% increase from the previous year.
Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, described the statistics as “devastating” and “unacceptable,” citing insufficient numbers of trained dentists and retention issues. She called for more school check-ups, supervised brushing programmes, and a public health approach to dentistry.
Blossom Family Dental Care, voted the city’s top children’s healthcare provider in the 2025 Little Vikings Awards, underwent a 2023 refurbishment to make visits more comfortable for young patients. The practice employs a specialist children’s dentist and orthodontist and offers complex care, with hospital referrals where needed.
The clinic also runs community initiatives, including visits from its ‘tooth fairy’ to local schools and nurseries, to educate children and parents about oral health.
A spokesperson for the practice highlighted the broader impact of tooth decay: “It can affect eating, sleeping, communication, and socialising, and leads to at least 60,000 school days being missed annually due to hospital extractions. Most of these cases are preventable with regular check-ups and good oral hygiene.”
Ms Maskell said she has met with the dental minister and chief dental officer to discuss reforms aimed at improving NHS access for children and adults. While the government has invested over £3.7 billion in primary care dentistry, she warned that further action is urgently needed to ensure patients can reliably access appointments, check-ups, and emergency care.