Dental expert warns against child neglect
A dental expert has warned that children are being routinely neglected by dentists.
Professor of Children’s Dentistry, Monty Duggal, claimed that children as young as two years old are being neglected by dentists and treated poorly as a result of an ineffective care system.
Professor Duggal claimed that many dentists feel that it is a waste of time treating milk teeth and as a result many children are left with infections, blood poisoning and pain. Duggal claims that there is a widespread belief that milk teeth should not be filled and this has contributed to a shocking number of children requiring emergency dental treatment; when the milk teeth are left untreated, dental health problems become more advanced and eventually, many children end up needing emergency tooth extractions.
Duggal expressed his concerns in the Faculty Dental Journal; he suggested that there was a dangerous culture related to caring for children’s teeth and claimed that both parents and dentists are guilty of leaving troublesome milk teeth to drop put naturally, rather than taking steps to treat the teeth. Duggal, who is head of paediatric dentistry at the Leeds Dental Institute, said that it was completely unacceptable to leave children in pain and urged dentists to ensure that children with dental health problems were treated in an appropriate manner in the future.
Duggal claims that specialists are seeing an increasing number of children with health problems, including severe infections, as a result of poor restorations or non-intervention. Currently, specialists are under severe pressure due to the huge demand for treatment; the current approach is creating a number of serious cases and non-intervention is costing the NHS a significant amount of money. Duggal claims that the current system is failing both patients and the NHS, as treatment for serious dental health problems is much more expensive than routine treatment to strengthen and protect the teeth.
Duggal also noted that children from poorer backgrounds were particularly affected by poor oral health; this is related to poor education, a poor diet and a lack of regular visits to the dentist. Research has shown that children from poor background are likely to have eight times as many dental health problems as those from more affluent backgrounds.
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