Tooth decay to soar as children miss treatment
Shortage of dentists hits bid to cut case backlog
TOOTH decay among children is set to soar after the pandemic as two-thirds of vital check-ups have been cancelled, dentist leaders have warned.
They said the collapse in attendance will only result in problems being stored up for later life if the backlog is not addressed.
Routine dental care has now been restarted – but a massive backlog of patients and restrictions on the number that can be seen in a day mean only those with urgent problems are likely to get appointments.
Restrictions were put in place because of the risk of transmitting Covid-19 from patients to staff during aerosol drilling procedures such as fillings.
Figures from Public Health Scotland reveal the number of children seen last year was around a third of the 2018-19 average due to the pandemic.
A total of 366,643 children saw a dentist in 2020 compared to an average of over 1.1million in 2018 and 2019. The number of adults seen was 1.5million last year, compared to an average of 4.1million in 2018 and 2019.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has warned that lower levels of participation will inevitably create more problems in later life.
Early signs of decay and oral cancers are picked up at routine check-ups, and delays will mean higher costs to the nHS and worse outcomes for patients in the long run.
The revelation is the latest to hit dental care in Scotland.
Final-year dental students are having to repeat the year because they have not been able to get training in aerosol generating procedures such as fillings and new students are having their entry year delayed to 2022.
That is combined with the impact of potentially unhealthy lockdown diets and toothbrushing and dental checks not yet resuming in schools.
Robert Donald, chair of the BDA’s Scottish Council said: ‘These numbers underline the scale of the challenge ahead.
‘Millions have missed out on dentistry. Problems that could have been caught early, from decay to oral cancer, have been missed.
‘Scotland’s huge oral health inequalities cannot be allowed to widen. Every party heading into May’s election now has a responsibility to set out how they will ensure families across Scotland can get the care they need.’
On the March 23, 2020, when the UK entered lockdown, dental practices were asked to suspend all dental treatments and planned appointments were cancelled far in advance.
A few dental care centres were made available for patients with acute problems during lockdown. However, dentists at these facilities offered only a limited number of treatments in a bid to minimise the risk of coronavirus being spread.
Dentists reopened on June 22 for emergency care only.
From July 13, dentists were able to see patients for nonaerosol treatments.
Since August 17, aerosol associated treatment has been permitted for urgent dental care only.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented challenge for dentistry and we recognise the impact it has had on routine attendance at the dentist.
‘We remain committed to ensuring all nHS patients who want to access nHS dental services continue to receive care.
‘We have taken a precautionary approach to remobilisation of nHS dental care because the use of aerosol generated procedures in most dental procedures involves the generation of a fine spray of moisture droplets, which are considered high risk procedures for the transmission of coronavirus.
‘From november 1, 2020 dentists have been able to provide the full range of nHS care.’
‘Millions have missed out’