Getting Dentistry Noticed Leave a comment
Sir Paul Beresford. BDS. MP.
Dual UK/NZ nationality.
New Zealand born, bred and educated, with post graduate education in UK. Worked as an NHS and private dentistry in East and South West London. Private dentist in the West End of London then and currently in a very part time capacity in South West London.
Councillor including Leader of Wandsworth Council moving to the House of Commons.
A Minister in the John Major Government, MP for the then Croydon Central, then elected as MP for Mole Valley as a result of the boundary changes for the 1997 election.
It is hard to get dentistry noticed on a parliamentary agenda, let alone with local authorities and their Health and Well-Being Boards. But it has been happening.
With a smile like this hitting MPs, and the statistics behind this smile and many thousands like it, there has been a tiny awakening.
About 900 children a week are admitted to English hospitals for tooth extractions. Dental decay is the number one reason for children aged 5 to 9 being admitted to hospital in the United Kingdom. The NHS spent £30 million on hospital-based extractions for children aged 18 and under in the year 2012/13.
The 2013 child dental health survey statistics make sad reading. For example, 31% five-year-olds had obvious decay in their primary teeth. That figure was higher in deprived areas, where 44.1% of those eligible for free school meals had decayed primary teeth in comparison with 29% of other children of the same age. Of five-year-olds who were eligible for free school meals, 21% had severe or extensive tooth decay compared with only 11% of those who were not eligible. Deciduous teeth, with thinner enamel, are more susceptible.
By the age of 15, 46% of children have tooth decay. Of the 15-year-olds, 59% of those eligible for free school meals had decay compared with 43% of other children of the same age. 45% reported that their daily life had been affected by problems with their teeth and their mouth in the previous three months. 28% reported being embarrassed to smile or laugh because of the condition of their teeth. These are 15-year-olds, who were suddenly taking notice of the world and hoping to be taken notice by the world.
The cause is almost entirely from sugar intake. The UK population eats about 700g of sugar a week. This is an average of 140 teaspoons sugar a week. Predictably, it is worse with teenagers who consume some 50% more sugar on average.
Dental decay is preventable. Governments, Members of Parliament, dental officers, and charities are starting to act. The Scottish government have a program called Child Smile with more than 90,000 nursery school children taking part with supervise tooth brushing. Because of reduced dental care required this is managed to save the Scottish health service £6 million at least over eight years. Wales has a similar program with similar benefits.
In England, a number of individual programs have been set up. SMILE 4 Life is one which has been set up by Sara Hurley who is England’s new dynamic Chief Dental Officer. In its initial phase SMILE 4 Life is designed to assist local authorities in identifying the specific local needs and addressing these through the local authority services. There are a considerable number of charities working in this field, along with the profession and several dental health care companies. Many of these have been supported by local MPs of differing parties.
In my own personal case my local Health and Wellbeing Board is under the auspices of Surrey County Council. Surrey Executive Members, Sara Hurley and I, hope to set up a program utilising the services of local dental practice hygienists and nurses to run tooth brushing programs with fluoride toothpaste and every single primary school in Surrey. Toothbrushes and toothpaste will be supplied by the dental industry so the cost will be negligible, but the benefits rapidly visible. Interestingly, these programs have made inroads into general dental health and general dental health attitudes in the family’s as well as these children. Indeed often the mothers take home the lessons their infants are learning so expanding this basic care in the home. I am also hoping that there can be a requirement for every child in the primary school to visit their local dentist for a check-up twice annually.
The benefits of better dental health is multifaceted. For the dental profession, including dental technicians, there is very real prospect of an increase in demand for high-quality care. In my own tiny practice, working up to 3 mornings a week, if the House of Commons allows me, utilising a minimal invasive approach the demand for bleaching and high-quality restorations when required has progressively increased. I very rarely do an amalgam filling but most posterior restorations are porcelain or gold with a few indirect composites. All require good high-quality dental technician work combined with superb quality of oral hygiene. As dentistry progresses and as the children of today, hopefully, keep their teeth and learn to respect their teeth the demands on the profession, including technicians will increase.
