A THIRD of five-year-old children in Darlington suffer from some form of dental decay, worrying new figures have revealed.

And health managers also say that as many as 52 per cent of youngsters in the area are in need of treatment for the problem.

The alarming statistics applied to all one but one primary school in Darlington, following a comprehensive survey.

The figures mean that Darlington is the fifth worst primary care trust area in the Northern and Yorkshire region for the percentage of children who have some kind of dental decay by the age of five.

But officials are planning to combat the problem, with both the primary care trust and the borough council now looking at ways to help to improve the state of children's teeth.

As well as encouraging parents and teachers to promote the benefits of regular brushing, another option could be to look at introducing fluoridated milk in schools.

The nutritional value of milk is widely acknowledged and various studies have demonstrated that milk with fluoride drops can reduce dental decay by up to 60 per cent.

Experts say fluoridation does not affect the taste or appearance of milk, nor does it affect the health benefits.

Any scheme introduced locally would allow parents and children to opt out from fluoridation. Talks are due to be held with schools to discuss the possibility of introducing a fluoridation scheme.

Darlington's director of public health, Nonnie Crawford, said: "Dental health is the most underrated aspect of public health.

"If we have good teeth it helps us to enjoy life while poor dental health can be a misery.

"The poor results from the survey mean that we must work towards improving the dental health of our five-year-olds now, so that they will have healthy teeth in ten or 20 years' time.

"We must also ensure that the dental health of future generations of five-year-olds is improved.