There has been a significant increase (66%!!) in children having their decayed teeth removed in hospitals since 2010-11 according to councils who are subsequently demanding tougher action to tackle sugar addiction.
So whilst I accept that it is fair to a degree that The Local Government Association blames the increase on excessive consumption of fizzy drinks and foods high in added sugar, is that the only reason our children’s teeth are rotting?
Dental decay is now the leading cause of hospital admission for children aged between 5 and 9 – why is that? Why isn’t this getting done by dentists like before? Or why aren’t they solving the problem before the tooth decay is so severe that removal is the only option?
BECAUSE NONE OF US CAN AFFORD TO GO TO THE F’G DENTIST ANYMORE. Yes, there are still NHS dentists around and NHS dentistry is free for children, but how many are there and can you get in to one these days? I’d love to know what people think. I had an NHS dentist that suddenly announced overnight it was going private. I recently had to have a filling. I have been with the same NHS dentist for years, but this time I was charged nearly £100.00. My dentist, like millions of others around the country has stopped being part of the NHS and we the general public have had no involvement or say in their decision. It is now too expensive for families to take their children to the dentist.
What has happened to the dental profession in the UK without anybody doing anything about it? I’m quite sure it had a lot to do with the government introducing new contracts for dentists in 2006 designed to improve access to NHS dentistry. Instead, many dentists chose to opt out and went private. Why wouldn’t they. What incentive did they have to remain in the bureaucracy? The government are claiming that they are turning the corner – has anybody noticed which corner they mean?
I thought dental care was meant to be provided by our state run National Health Service, but nobody I know can find an NHS dentist these days. How has the government allowed the nations teeth to decline to the point where people are ending up in hospital or even worse having to extract their own teeth? Or go abroad to have treatment? What is worse is that I suspect that the care of our teeth fall further and further down the priority list of expenses and our reputation for having the worse teeth of any nation is going to become considerably more relevant.
What can we do about it? The government can’t simply blame the fizzy drinks and therefore ultimately the parent. Brushing teeth might be an issue, eating too much sugar too, but accessing a dentist is the hardest and most expensive step and is causing long term problems for our children.
