One topic which is rarely out of the news agenda of late is sugar. This month we have been highly critical of the decision by the government to reject overwhelming calls for a sugar tax. Being a charity that has seen first-hand the impact added sugars have had on health inequalities across the UK. We feel this is a major opportunity lost in the urgent need to promote healthy living and improve the quality of life for millions. This decision could mean further suffering for potentially thousands of the country’s children, after all, sugar-related tooth decay remains the number one reason for hospitalisation of children in the UK.
Sticking with children, as the Rugby World Cup has well and truly kicked off potentially inspiring the next generation on rugby players, we have taken a look at our kids’ on-field habits. Rather staggeringly we have found only a third of our children are wearing mouthguards while playing rugby at school. Later in this issue we offer advice about how not to end up toothless in the tackle.
We also uncover some research that is very relevant to the new batch of students heading off to university for the first time, we give you nine things you need to know about tooth whitening and also offer some much needed advice about how to overcome dental anxiety.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Word of Mouth.
