Islands’ kids have lowest decay rate

Primary one pupils in Shetland have the second lowest dental decay incidence in Scotland.

Figures from the National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP), which took into account all NHS boards across Scotland, established the number of primary one children in Shetland without any tooth decay stood at 81.9%, well above the Scottish average of 71.1%.

They also found Shetland children had the lowest number of teeth affected by decay.

NHS Shetland’s dental director Brian Chittick said: “It is heartening to see that the number of our younger population

“We must remember that dental decay is preventable”

without any obvious dental decay continues to increase.

“This is the result of the great work being undertaken by parents and carers in collaboration with the dental professionals here in Shetland in looking after their young children’s teeth.

“The oral health promotion team has also been engaged with school establishments to look at healthy eating and providing the support for daily tooth brushing to take place in both the pre and primary school environment.

“This is giving our young population the best start in life and ensuring that good oral hygiene practices are established at the earliest opportunity.”

“However we must remember that dental decay is preventable and we must not get complacent.”

With hard work and working in collaboration with community services, then we hope that the low incidence of dental decay will continue”.

Orkney beat their island rivals to come first, with 83.6% of primary one pupils showing no obvious decay.