​The number of children aged 10 and 11 living in Radstock and Peasedown St John with tooth decay is higher than the national average.

The most recent survey showed the rate of tooth decay among pupils across Bath and North East Somerset as a whole was eight per cent higher than the regional average of 30 per cent.

A report to Bath and North East Somerset Partnership Board for Health and Well-Being says: “Dental health and disease varies widely between different communities and follows to some extent the pattern of deprivation in the area.”

In a bid to improve the local situation health workers have been promoting tooth brushing and handing out free brushing packs to parents.

Another survey of schoolchildren is planned for later this year.

The report suggests a long-term solution may be water fluoridation.

It explains: “There is well-documented evidence that this intervention will have a profound and cost effective impact on dental health locally and be more effective than health promotion methods.

“The proposition is at an exploratory stage and further work is needed before concrete proposals are made.”

Meanwhile the National Health Service is worried that hundreds of people are neglecting their teeth because they believe there are only private dentists..

And yet in the last nine months the NHS in Bath and North East Somerset has commissioned extra dental places for 8,000 people.

Among the extra places are some at the Midsomer Norton Dental Care Centre, North Road, Radstock, which is currently expanding its NHS work.

One of the centre’s dentists Alastair Fleming said: “Dental surgeries have been expanding their NHS services, as part of their continued commitment to providing NHS dental services in the area. Providing access to NHS treatment is important for people’s dental hygiene.

“It’s a reasonable assumption to make that if people are neglecting treatment because of a perceived lack of NHS dentists this could have a knock on affect to their dental health.”