Canadian Paediatricians Raise Concerns Over Access To Dental Care
Paediatricians in Canada have raised concerns over access to dental care.
The Canadian Paediatric Society released a report today (Friday) calling for improvements in access to children’s dental services and stating that decay in early childhood can contribute to behavioural problems, delayed growth and development, problems at school and loss of sleep.
Children with rotten teeth often require surgery because extraction must be carried out under general anaesthetic when children are still very young. According to the report, tooth extraction is the most commonly performed surgical procedure among young children in Canada.
The paediatricians said that several factors, including diet, bacterial infections, social background, income, sugar consumption and prolonged bottle use, all contribute to poor oral health, but decay can often be prevented.
Dr Anne Rowan-Legg, a member of the society’s community paediatrics committee, said that “publicly funded provincial and territorial dental plans for Canadian children are limited”; she also added that there was significant “variability” in coverage, with children in some areas missing out.
Dr Rowan-Legg also said that notice must be taken of evidence, which confirms that investing in preventative and routine dental care saves money in the long-run.
The report revealed that 57 per cent of children aged between 6 and 11 years old have had at least one cavity, while the prevalence of cavities varies from less than 6 per cent in some communities to more than 90 per cent among some Indigenous communities. Children from the poorest backgrounds are 2.5 times more likely to suffer from cavities than children from more affluent families.
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