Hundreds of Dentists Warn of Dental Crisis in Open Letter
Around 400 dentists have joined forces to pen an open letter, which has been published in the national press. The letter warns of a dental crisis in the country, with thousands of children admitted to hospital each year with preventable oral health problems and a system in place that is not fit for purpose in the modern day.
The letter, which has been drawn up by a group of dentists based all over the country, talks of a ‘third world’ crisis and accuses successive governments of burying their heads in the sand when it comes to dental care and ignoring a problem that is spiraling out of control. The dentists claim that the current system is not fit for purpose, with millions of people going for long periods of time without seeing a dentist and rates of decay at alarming levels among the nation’s children.
The letter cites recent national statistics including those linked to dental admissions in young children. It also mentions a new charity programme set up in Dewsbury to help people who can’t afford regular NHS treatment. The dental coalition used this example to highlight the crumbling dental system and compared such initiatives to those normally employed in third world countries, where access to dental care is poor.
In response, the NHS claims that there is no crisis and cites the results of a recent poll, which shows that more than 90% of people who wanted to see a dentist in the last 24 months have successfully done so.
Prosthodontic specialist Dr Tony Kilcoyne, who was responsible for coordinating more than 400 signatures, described dentistry as the “Cinderella” of the NHS and urged the government to act to improve services and tackle rising rates of decay, which are resulting in thousands of children requiring hospital treatment each year.
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