Child Dental Treatments Drop By More Than Half
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- Published: Tuesday, 19 January 2021 11:02
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The Telegraph has reported that latest figures show that the number of dental treatments delivered to children has more than halved in a year. Eddie Crouch, Chair of the British Dental Association, told the paper: “Covid means deep oral health inequalities are set to widen, as millions of children have missed out on care.”
Just 4.2 million courses of dental treatment were administered to children up to November 2020, versus 9.9 million the previous year. The British Dental Association, who obtained the NHS data via freedom of information, says “vital early signs” of tooth decay will be missed as a result and more extensive treatments will be needed down the line.
Dentists have warned the impact of “sugar-rich lockdown diets”, poor access to care and the suspension of public health programmes will have a significant impact on children’s dental health - particularly for those from deprived communities. A Public Health England survey released this week found more than a third of people have snacked on unhealthy food or drink since the start of the pandemic.
Concerns have been raised that with children being away from educational settings for long periods due to lockdowns, as well as additional infection control measures, they will have missed out on vital schemes such as supervised toothbrushing programme.
Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association Chair said: “Covid means deep oral health inequalities are set to widen, as millions of children have missed out on care. “We needed government to work with us to find a safe and sustainable way of restoring services. Sadly, with Covid rates surging Ministers have imposed a system of targets that will drive many NHS practices to the wall. Prevention needs to be more than a buzzword. We need real support for practices, wedded to real commitment to public health programmes.”
An NHS spokesperson told the paper that "millions" of people have received dental treatment in the last year despite the pandemic. They added that over 650 urgent dental centres have been set up and the NHS has "made it clear to practices that children should be prioritised for appointments".
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