Plymouth schoolchildren launch new dental access campaign
A group of schoolchildren from Plymouth has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of dental access issues in the city.
The campaign was devised by children and teachers at Whitleigh Community Primary School following a survey conducted by teacher, Sarah O’Neill. After struggling to get NHS dental appointments for her own family, Sarah decided to ask the parents of the children she teaches about their experiences of local dental services.
To her dismay, Sarah found that 50% of the children didn’t have an NHS dentist and a quarter of those who did have a practice couldn’t get an appointment. She said that the findings of her research made her “really sad.” When Sarah was growing up, it was common to go to the dentist every 6 months and dental care was a priority. Now, parents are struggling to get dental appointments for themselves and their children, with many going without.
The children’s campaign has been backed by head teacher, Gavin Summerfield, who said that the school team were “firm believers” in regular, accessible dental care for children.
A BBC investigation found that up to 90% of dental practices in England had no available NHS adult or child places, but this figure rose to 99% in some areas. In Devon, researchers found no available NHS places during the summer.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has accused the government of failing to fund NHS dental services for the last decade and called for ministers to “wake up and listen to these parents.” Eddie Crouch, BDA chair, warned that NHS dentistry was “on the brink.”
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