Mike Parry has welcomed Labour's plans to introduce supervised toothbrushing in schools, saying neglect should be considered "child abuse".
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer batted away assertions that the party is guilty of heralding in a "nanny state".
"If I was in the medical profession, and children were being brought in with rotting teeth, I'd report them to the authorities", Parry said on GB News.
"It is child abuse. If children enter hospitals with injuries, the first thing they do is ring the alarm bell. Is the child being abused at home?
"In my view, any child left to get rotting teeth at home is being abused by parents and it therefore must be focused upon."
Starmer said: “We want to encourage good parenting, but I don’t think we can just turn our back on it.”
He added: “When I first read the statistic that for six to 10-year-olds that the biggest admission to hospitals I was really struck. That is shocking – and I don’t think you can simply say, ‘That’s none of our business.’”
