What is the impact of the UK soft drinks industry levy on childhood tooth decay?

TL;DR

The UK soft drinks levy was linked to reduced hospital admissions for tooth decay in children, especially younger ones.

Contribution

This study provides evidence that the UK soft drinks industry levy improved children's oral health outcomes.

Findings

Hospital admissions for carious tooth extractions decreased by 12.1% after the SDIL announcement.

Reductions were observed across all deprivation levels and were most significant in children under 10 years.

The study used interrupted time series analysis of hospital data to assess the SDIL's impact.

Abstract

Interrupted time series analysis.

An interrupted time series (ITS) analysis was conducted to determine if there was an association between the announcement and implementation of the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) and rates of hospital admission for tooth extractions due to dental caries in children. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) were used on hospital admissions for tooth extraction of one or more primary or permanent tooth due to a primary diagnosis of dental caries in children aged 0–18 years attending a National Health Service (NHS) hospital in England from January 2012 (pre-SDIL) to February 2020 (post-SDIL implementation). HES data were grouped and summarised by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and age group.

There was an absolute reduction of 3.7% (95% CI 5.3% to 2.2%) per 100,000 population/month and a relative reduction of 12.1% (95% CI 17.0% to 7.2%) in hospital admissions for carious tooth extractions in all children (0–18 years) compared if there had been no announcement of the SDIL (counterfactual scenario). Reductions were observed in children living in most areas regardless of the level of deprivation and most notably in the youngest children (<10 years).

An ITS analysis of administrative data on hospital admissions found the announcement of the UK SDIL was associated with improvements (reduction) in the incidence of hospital admissions for tooth extractions due to dental caries. This study provides evidence of benefits of the UK SDIL to children’s oral health.