Highland dentists - Dingwall and Invergordon amongst them - to run special clinics protect to protect children’s teeth after Covid-induced backlog
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DENTISTS from six Highland practices including in Inverness and Easter Ross have pledged their time in the urgent fight to stem a growing oral health emergency affecting the country’s children.
Inshes Dental Centre and Torwood Dental Practice in Inverness, Invergordon Dental Practice, and McIntyre Corbet & Associates in Dingwall, Glencoe Dental Centre, and M&S Dental Care in Fort William, all part of Clyde Munro Dental Group aim to treat at least 1000 children with a fluoride varnish (FV) application in dedicated out of hours clinics by the close of 2022.
FV is one of the most effective treatments for preventing tooth decay in children from the age of two.
Typically offered up to twice a year, the pandemic-induced backlog means it is not currently as readily available to families under NHS services.
The pledge comes after worrying statistics showed that 850,000 fewer patients had been seen in the past two years compared to 2017-2019. In children’s services just 55% of children in the most deprived areas have seen a dentist.
The latest data show that primary school children from the most deprived communities experience more than four times the level of tooth decay compared with children in the least deprived areas.
These stark and persistent inequalities have widened as a result of the pandemic, with the collapse in access to routine services, the suspension of public health programmes and the impact of sugar-rich lockdown diets, said a group spokesperson.
Tooth decay in children is a major health problem in the UK – and despite being entirely preventable is one of the most common reasons for hospital admission in children.
Jacqui Frederick, group clinical director, is one of the dentists to have helped more than 100 young patients access FV treatment in 2021, since Clyde Munro started the children’s clinics in the last quarter of last year.
She said: “We’re a predominantly NHS-based group and we take our responsibility as Scotland’s biggest dental group seriously.
“As you might imagine, our dentists are deeply concerned at falling numbers of young patients accessing NHS dentistry services. The pandemic has set back the oral health of so many people and we want to be a part of the fightback.
“We wish we didn’t have to volunteer time out of hours to get this done – but in doing so we can reach out to those in need, any concerned parents or guardians can contact their nearest Clyde Munro practice to inquire about FV clinics.”
FV treatment that takes around 10 minutes and Clyde Munro will prioritise its practices that are within reach of many of Scotland’s more deprived communities. It will not require the carer or the child to be a registered patient. It will release dates and times of its clinics regularly on its website.
The group has 54 practices, from Orkney to the Borders and is represented in all of Scotland’s cities and many of its towns, with 400 staff supporting 460,000 patients.
Find out more about Clyde Munro at https://clydemunrodental.com/
