Council Chiefs Weigh Up New Measures to Tackle “Appalling” Rates of Tooth Decay in Southampton

Sample News Big

Council chiefs in Southampton are considering a wave of new measures to try and reduce rates of decay among the city’s children.

The most recent statistics from Public Health England show that around 10.5 per cent of 3 year olds in the city have signs of dental decay, and health chiefs are planning to roll out a series of new programmes and initiatives to bring this figure down.

Recently, Public Health England confirmed that plans for a water fluoridation scheme in and around the city had been scrapped and council members are now hoping to use some of the money that would have been allocated to the fluoridation programme to introduce new ways of tackling rates of decay.

Dave Shields, council health chief, described the situation as “appalling” and confirmed that talks were underway to bring in new measures to try and improve oral health standards in Southampton. Decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are suffering dental pain and cavities across the UK. Mr Shields added that there were hopes to introduce targeted brushing schemes in nurseries and schools, which would be linked to programmes to target derived areas and reduce child poverty.

Leader of the council, Simon Betts, stressed that the council would fight for funding for dental health initiatives and stated that he hoped that Public Health England would not withdraw the investment that was originally aimed at the fluoridation programme.

Join this Discussion

Comments are closed.