Newsletter
BELFAST, UK: Teenagers in Northern Ireland have some of the highest levels of tooth decay in Europe, research funded by Queen's University in Belfast has found. As reported by the BBC, teenagers, particularly in deprived areas, are twice as likely to have permanent damage as those in other European countries.
According to the report, many teenagers in affluent areas have braces fitted and aesthetic treatments, whereas teenagers in poorer areas are more likely to have extractions. Factors contributing to bad oral health include a poor diet, social deprivation and a non-fluoridated water supply.
The British Dental Association (BDA) would like a dental health strategy, which was published five years ago, to be implemented. According to Peter Crooks, Chair of the BDA’s Northern Ireland Dental Practice Committee, the current dental contract does not pay dentists to deliver preventive treatments. Crooks accused the Department of Health of dragging its feet on implementing the dental health strategy.
“I think it is critical that a dental health strategy is implemented as soon as possible,” the BBCquoted Crooks. “We have been talking with the Department of Health for the past five years and there seems to be very little progress in this and our young people throughout the country need to have better dental health. Prevention will do most to help that on its way.”
The Department of Health, however, disagreed with Crooks’ point of view. It stated that the regular care payment dentists receive for each patient should be enough to cover everything and insisted that prevention is spread across the health sector, including in schools.
Chief Dental Officer for the Department of Health, Donncha O’Carolan, admitted that there are poor oral health levels in Northern Ireland but emphasised that “the department has been extremely pro-active in the last five or six years to reduce these decay levels”.
According to O’Carolan, three things need to be done to improve oral health. One is to get fluoride on the children’s teeth; the second is to put fissure sealants on their adult teeth when they erupt to protect them; and the third thing is to improve people’s diets.
“We have had fluoride toothpaste schemes throughout the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland running since 2005 and we have noticed a decline in the number of extractions and fillings,” O’Carolan stated.
