Children in care are twice as likely to need tooth extraction under general anaesthetic
A new study has suggested that children in care are twice as likely to need tooth extraction under general anaesthetic than the average child from the general population.
Researchers from the University of Glasgow found that children who lived in residential care homes and those living with foster families were twice as likely to need hospital treatment for dental issues. They also discovered that children are much less likely to visit a dentist on a regular basis, despite the fact that dental issues are more prevalent in children in care.
The findings of the study, which have been published in Archives in Disease in Childhood, show that 49 percent of children in care do not see a dentist regularly, compared to 38 percent of the general child population. Researchers analysed data from 622,280 children in Scotland, including 10,924 children in care.
The research team revealed that 9 percent of children in care have had at least one tooth extracted under general anaesthetic compared to 5 percent of children not living in care.
Researchers are eager to investigate this area further, and have stated that it’s difficult to come to conclusions based on the fact that there could be stark differences in standards of oral and general health that cause children to end up in care and it’s not possible to say at this time that children in care are being failed by dental services.
Dr Graham Connelly, from the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland, said that the research confirmed what he suspected in that children who are in care have poorer standards of oral health than the general child population.
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