Dentist Concerned As Figures Suggest 40% of Children Miss Annual Check-Ups
The UK’s leading dental experts have expressed concerns following the publication of figures, which suggest that 40 per cent of children are missing out on annual dental check-ups.
The statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that only 61 per cent of children attended an annual check-up, despite advice from dentists recommending at least 1 visit per year. The figures also showed that more than 30 per cent of children had not seen a dentist for two years.
Dental chief at the Royal College of Surgeons, Professor Nigel Hunt, said that improvement over the last decade has been modest and a third of children still suffer from dental decay, despite the fact that it is largely preventable. The advice from dentists is to take children for check-ups every 6 months, yet the figures show that some are not seeing a dentist for at least 2 years, putting their health at risk.
Regular check-ups help dentists to teach and show children good habits, which promote good oral health and ensure that symptoms of decay are diagnosed quickly, to prevent infections from becoming more serious and reduce the risk of children ending up in hospital requiring treatment under general anaesthetic.
In contrast, figures related to adult appointments were slightly more promising, with dental visits increasing by 1.7 million compared to 2006; this represents a very small increase (0.3%) in the proportion of adults seeing a dentist on a regular basis. The statistics show significant regional variations, with 61 per cent of people attending regular check-ups in the north, compared to 53.2 per cent in the south and just 50 per cent in London.
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