'I’ve seen families sharing one toothbrush': The ‘tooth tax’ is hurting Britain’s poorest children
As a dentist who has spent my career treating children across the North West, some of the things I still see in clinic would stop anyone in their tracks.
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The image that stays with me most is this: families sharing one toothbrush. Parents taking turns before school. Siblings using the same worn-out brush because it’s the only one in the house.
Children too embarrassed to smile because brushing their teeth has become a luxury they can’t afford.
This isn’t neglect. It’s poverty. And we make it harder every day by taxing the very basics children need to stay healthy.
Every children’s toothbrush and every tube of children’s toothpaste carries 20% VAT - a ‘tooth tax’ on the most fundamental tools of prevention.
For some of the families we’ve seen, that 20% really is the difference between giving a child a brush or going without. When every pound matters, VAT isn’t policy; it’s pain.
ORDO’s new national survey, part of its Teeth of Tomorrow campaign, lays bare what we experience chairside. Half of UK parents now say children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste are becoming unaffordable.
Almost half report their child has needed medical attention for an oral health issue this year alone. And 85% believe those essentials should be VAT-free - they’re right.
Tooth decay is still the leading cause of hospital admissions among five- to nine-year-olds. In the North West, where I work, we see some of the worst levels of untreated decay in the country.
I’ve met children who can’t sleep, eat or concentrate at school because of pain that could have been prevented for the price of a toothbrush and toothpaste.
I’ll never forget the five-year-old who had every one of her baby teeth removed under general anaesthetic.
She should have been learning to read, playing in the park, smiling in school photos - not recovering in a hospital bed after losing her whole dentition. And yet cases like hers are not rare. They are happening in communities just like mine.
We talk a lot about levelling up, about closing the health gap between regions and income groups. Scrapping VAT on children’s oral health products is a small, common-sense move that would make a big difference - fast.
It puts toothbrushes and toothpaste on the same footing as children’s clothing and nappies: essential items no family should be taxed for buying.
Dentists aren’t calling for dramatic overhaul. Parents aren’t asking for handouts. We are asking for logic - stop taxing prevention.
The Teeth of Tomorrow campaign - led by ORDO and supported by clinicians nationwide - is urging Government to act. T
he public can add their voice too. A petition is live calling for an end to the tooth tax and for children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste to be VAT-free.
No child should suffer because brushing their teeth costs too much. Ending the tooth tax won’t fix every inequality in children’s oral health - but it removes a barrier that never should have existed in the first place.
If we want a healthier future for our children, this is a simple place to start. Sign the petition today.
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Dr Tom Owen, Dentist and ORDO Dental Ambassador
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