which caused rotting children's jaws and teeth
which caused jaw and teeth rot in children (rot is a noun here)
was caused by soot irritation
By default, if said out of the blue:
throat, skin, eye… irritation... =
throat, skin, eye… are grammatical patients (receivers) You should make
sooth accessible as agent beforehand.
…irritation was caused by soot inhalation
reading and writing was all they will need
reading and writing skill was all they would (ever) need