Dentists carry out school check-ups in new trial

Dental problems in children could be spotted earlier and even prevented due to a new partnership trial bringing schools and dentists together.

They will now visit 325 primary schools across Mid and South Essex to carry out free regular check-ups and sign them up to their surgeries for on-going NHS treatment if needed.

Dentist Louise McAllister, who is part of the scheme, said: "The most [common] reason that children go into hospital is tooth decay."

NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), which launched the scheme, said: "Supporting children and young people to build healthy habits from an early age is important to set the foundations for a lifetime of good oral health."

The latest NHS figures for England showed that nearly a quarter of children have tooth decay.

The survey of oral health in five-year-olds found 16% had some tooth decay in Mid and South Essex, but locally the rates varied.

Across the Braintree district, it was 11.25% of children, but in Thurrock, that figure rose to 32.75%.

Ms McAllister, principal dentist at Earls Colne's Essex Dental Clinic and one of the practices taking part in the three-year trial, said deprivation, a lack of education and a fear of going to the dentist were among the reasons.

"The statistics are awful," she said.

"Forty-five million pounds is spent each year by the NHS on children going into hospital to have their teeth extracted under general anaesthetic.

"I think there is a fear of going to the dentist, but it can be fun.

"We can make it pleasant and we'd much rather be doing prevention than treatments on children."

Children will be shown how to brush their teeth and told which foods and drinks to avoid.

If problems were spotted during check-ups, the child, along with their siblings and parents, would be signed up to a local NHS dental practice.

The three-year pilot would focus on pupils from Reception to Year 3, but there were hopes it would be rolled out to other year groups in the future.

Children attending Holy Trinity Primary in Halstead were among the first to be seen.

Head teacher Sarah Rowe said the visits had been "extremely beneficial".

"It's given the children the idea that going to the dentist is undaunting," she said.

"They've made the sessions fun and engaging."

William Guy, director of primary care at Mid and South Essex ICB said: "We are pleased to be working with local dental practices to deliver this programme in schools across mid and south Essex which will help improve children and families' access to dental care and oral health education, and which will help to prevent more serious health risks associated with poor oral health from developing."

Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association, said the scheme to "bridge the gap between access and prevention" was to be "encouraged".

"Over 16 million children's NHS dental appointments have been lost since lockdown, and the oral health gap between rich and poor is widening," he said.

"But the onus must be on government to keep its promises and save NHS dentistry."

The Department of Health and Social Care said the current government had "inherited a broken NHS dental sector after years of neglect" and was "getting on with fixing it through [its] Plan for Change".

A spokesperson said: "We've already begun the rollout of 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments to get treatment for those most in need, and we will reform the dental contract to make NHS work more appealing to dentists.

"We're also putting prevention at the heart of our plans, and we have announced the rollout of a national supervised toothbrushing programme to prevent tooth decay in young children, saving the NHS millions in avoided treatment costs."

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