Thousands of kids miss dental care
More than 4000 Manawatu¯ schoolchildren have missed out on annual dental checks because of a backlog stretching back years, while hundreds suffered dental problems so bad they needed treatment under general anaesthetic.
Backlogs have been causing alarm at Midcentral District Health Board’s child and adolescent oral health service since at least 2016 and the latest figures supplied to Stuff show cavities are continuing.
In the past 12 months, 354 children needed to be treated under general anaesthetic, often to have horribly rotted teeth pulled or restoration work. Of these, 167 children are still waiting for treatment, the region’s dental chief Phil Marshall said. In that time, more than 4800 Manawatu¯ children who should have had a yearly check-up did not.
Last year, Marshall said the figures were ‘‘not particularly good’’ and bad teeth had cost more than $1 million for treatment under full anaesthetic – $4000 each for more than 300 children.
This year, he declined to be interviewed, but did reply to some of Stuff’s questions by email. However, a health board spokesman said the costs supplied last year may not fully represent all costs involved, and an up-to-date figure was not available.
Manawatu¯ mother Kim Wheelhouse said she was concerned her 8-year-old son had not had an annual check-up in two years. She had checked he is enrolled several times, but there was no indication an appointment would happen soon.
‘‘Yet, ironically, my 7-month-old daughter got called for a check-up and she had no teeth.
‘‘It’s pretty shocking. I can only guess by looking at his mouth, and I’m no dentist, so it’s hard to know if your kid’s got any issues. It would be good for someone else to tell him about brushing, to reinforce it.’’
Another Manawatu¯ mum, Kate Baillie, said the wait was too long. She had tried to organise an appointment with The Palms dental service, but found it took weeks to even get on the waiting list, and parents whose children were not enrolled in the DHB scheme were not sent reminders.
‘‘So how many are slipping through the cracks? Busy mums could skip a yearly check-up easily.’’
Dental problems can have serious and long-term effects, including damage to children’s heart or hearing, blood infections and difficulty speaking and learning, because of pain, Marshall has said.
The problems began in 2016, when the service had four resignations, introduced a new records system and one of the service’s mobile dental units was damaged. By December that year, 8000 children had not had a checkup for more than a year.
In October 2017, the wait-list was still nearly 8000 due to staff shortages, Marshall said. At the time, the service had 17 staff and five vacant roles.
This year, the unit has the equivalent of 19 full-time dental therapists, with a budget for 1.8 more, he said. ‘‘Over the last couple of years, the service has seen a number of retirements as the dental therapists have reached the end of their careers, and recruitment of graduates can only be done at the end of each year when they graduate,’’ Marshall said in his written response. ‘‘There is some difficulty retaining graduates once they have gained some initial experience.’’
The service provides free dental treatment for children up to 17, from O¯ taki to Dannevirke and Eketa¯ huna. It visits more than 70 schools in mobile clinics as well as providing services from fixed clinics at two schools, the Horowhenua Health Centre and The Palms, Palmerston North.