State intervention is necessary to ensure better oral health amongst children

But when it comes to children, there are actions that the Government can take to intervene and ensure that they do not suffer unnecessarily.

When Labour initially floated the idea for a supervised toothbrushing programme in schools, it was dismissed as a ‘nanny state’ intervention.

However, it is important to be guided by experts on health matters and it is clear from the report published by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank that intervention is going to be required.

Ms Longfield, the former Children's Commissioner for England, welcomed the toothbrushing proposals as a “positive step forward” but called for Ministers to be radical.

“We need to take evidence-based action and to develop a national plan to tackle a rotten teeth crisis affecting millions of our children,” she says.

And like a lot of poor health outcomes, they tend to hit the North disproportionately. In the North East and Yorkshire, one in five Year 6 primary school children and a third of Year 7 and Year 8 secondary school children have experienced tooth decay in their permanent teeth.

Rather than trying to impose outright bans on unhealthy products, a better way to discourage young people suffering from tooth decay would be to expand sugar taxes as a way of discouraging them from damaging their oral health.

It shouldn’t just be left to the state to ensure oral health amongst young people. Parents need to be encouraged to ensure that they do their bit to ingrain good habits into their children from an early age.