Action call over dental health failures
BY VIVIENNE AITKEN Health Editor CHILDREN in the most deprived areas of Scotland are being failed with their dental health.
Across the country, 70 per cent of children start school with no signs of tooth decay.
In the wealthiest areas, that rises to 85.9 per cent.
But in the poorest communities, it’s just 55.8 per cent.
Scots Lib Dem health spokesman Alex ColeHamilton called on the SNP Government to set out how they will improve the dental health of poor kids.
He said: “While Scotland’s dental health has improved steadily since the early 2000s, there is a big gap between the dental health of children from the most and least deprived backgrounds and it appears to be widening.
“The average child from the most deprived background has two decayed, missing or filled teeth by the time they reach primary one.
“Their more affluent classmates have, on average, 0.45 teeth in bad shape.”
The SNP Government set a target of having 60 per cent of P1 starters being decay-free by 2010.
In deprived areas, the reality falls short.
“The Government need to fill in the gaps and finally meet their 2010 target.”
Oral health has improved significantly in Scotland since 2000, when 55 per cent of kids started school with tooth decay.
The national Childsmile programme is designed to improve the oral health of kids in Scotland and reduce inequalities in dental health and access to dental services.