Experts call for urgent action, as children living in coastal towns face dental crisis

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Dental experts have called for urgent action to raise standards of oral health in coastal towns. The British Dental Association claims that children living in seaside communities are vulnerable to dental health issues due to a combination of limited access to NHS dental services and “high needs.”

The BDA described the situation as a “double whammy,” and suggested that up to 1 in 5 children in coastal towns in counties like Cornwall are starting school with visible signs of dental decay. 

Thousands of children from towns and villages near the sea are having treatment in hospital every year, despite the fact that the vast majority of cases of decay are preventable. The BDA believes that improving education and access to NHS dentistry would have a dramatic impact on standards of dental health.

Cornwall has hit the headlines several times over the course of the last 12 months, due to the fact that residents are waiting to see an NHS dentist. In some parts of the county, patients have been advised to travel long distances or to wait for over a year to get an appointment. A lack of access to services is undoubtedly having an impact on standards of oral health, as routine appointments reduce the risk of decay and gum disease significantly. 

Talking to the BBC, which has made a short documentary about the situation, many residents in Cornwall said that they had struggled to get an appointment with a local dentist, with many forced to wait, to travel several miles to an NHS practice with places available, or to go private.

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