Faculty of Dental Surgery responds to the new restrictions on junk-food advertising

The Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FDS) is committed to enabling dentists and specialists to provide patients with the highest possible standards of practice and care.

Responding to yesterday's announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care on the new restrictions on junk-food advertising , Matthew Garrett, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery ("FDS") said:

"We welcome today's announcement from the Government which we believe will provide added impetus to reduce children's exposure to advertisements of food with high sugar content.

"As dental surgeons, we know that decreasing sugar consumption is vital to tackling child tooth decay, which was the leading cause of hospitalisations for five to nine year olds before the pandemic.

"We have seen much lower children's dental attendance over the last 12 months due to Covid and this is another risk factor to poor oral health. Therefore, it is more important than ever to limit the amount of sugar that children eat and drink.

"Introducing a 9 pm watershed for these advertisements on TV, and restricting such content online, are measures that the FDS and a range of other organisations across the health sector have been calling for over a number of years. Thus, today's announcement is a significant step forward. We now urge the Government to implement these proposals in full in the forthcoming Health and Care Bill."