One area of Greater Manchester has seen the dental health of its children deteriorate to such a level that almost half of children aged five have teeth so bad they could need fillings.
Other parts of the region also come with shocking figures about the proportion of children with severe tooth decay.
In Oldham, a huge 43.7 per cent of five-year-old children have obvious dental caries - meaning tooth decay which could need a filling - according to the latest figures, which were gathered in a survey for 2018/19. But leading dentists say this might only have worsened through the pandemic, as treatment became delayed by practices switching to emergency appointments only during lockdowns.
