Bradford Councillor Calls for Urgent Action on Children’s Oral Health Issues

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Bradford councillor Ralph Berry has called for urgent action to tackle the city’s increasingly alarming children’s oral health issues.

Councillor Berry has warned that immediate action is required and urged fellow councillors and health advisers to “stop pussy-footing around” after MPs were told that there is a growing crisis across the UK due to a shortage of paediatric dental specialists and issues related to diet and poor oral hygiene in the home. The Commons select committee was informed that more and more youngsters are visiting hospitals for dental treatment involving tooth extraction under general anaesthetic, as a result of severe decay.

In response to the report, Councillor Berry said that measures must be introduced to stop rates of decay from increasing and to ensure that children in the city, which has one of the worst records for standards of children’s oral health in the country, are able to enjoy good oral health. Fluoridation is an issue that has been debated extensively. However, there are concerns about cost and Cllr Berry feels that if this is not an option, other initiatives must be tried to raise standards and combat decay.

Councillor Berry described the situation in Bradford as “terrible” and said that he hoped fluoridation would be considered, but he didn’t think that this was an option given the cost of implementing the scheme. As an alternative, he urged the council and health experts to bring about “a major push” to sort out the “shocking” situation and ensure that more youngsters are decay-free. Parents need to take responsibility and give their child the best chance by ensuring they stick to a healthy diet, brush their teeth at home and attend regular dental visits, but the NHS and local authorities have to “meet them halfway” and make sure that the services that are needed are in place and people have access to relevant educational information and help.

Statistics show that in 3 year period, 462 children were admitted to hospital in Bradford for dental treatment.

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