SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan has expressed serious concerns that budget pressures within the Department of Health have jeopardised the implementation of the Oral Health Strategy, an oral disease prevention programme which prioritises children and the older population.
The latest survey conducted by the department on the oral hygiene of 5-year-old children shows that 31.6% of participants had obvious signs of decay.
“That represents almost 8,000 children in a one-year cohort with the Western Trust exhibiting the highest rates of the disease at 35.75%.
Mr Durkan stated that funding of dental services is needed urgently to prevent serious deterioration in oral health inequalities across Northern Ireland.
Said the Foyle MLA: “I’ve been highlighting the precarious and quite frankly dangerous position facing oral health over the last few years.
“Frighteningly, I’m contacted regularly by parents of young children prevented from registering with practices during the pandemic and as a result have never visited a dentist in their young lives.
“Last year, the British Dental Association (BDA) urged Stormont to tackle the scandal of rotting teeth after 100,000 children across the North have required extractions since 2017.
“Those numbers have not abated and I fear will likely increase given the serious cuts within the sector.
“Dental services were already on the brink and now BDA has warned they won’t be able to deliver an adequate level of care to patients.”
Mr Durkan added: “I received assurances from the previous Health Minister that children would be prioritised for dental registration.
“But we haven’t seen delivery on those promises with reports highlighting that 88% of practices aren’t accepting child patients.
“This situation didn’t unfold overnight.
“It’s scandalous that efforts were not made to protect this vulnerable cohort and now the department can’t progress the crucial Oral Health Strategy which could address these issues and help improve oral care for children and older persons.
“This does not bode well for the future of oral health here which will see disadvantaged areas, like my own constituency of Foyle, worst hit.
“It’s important to remember that poor oral health can have serious implications including higher risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia.
“Urgent intervention is needed now, it is bordering on criminal that we don’t have a government in place to deliver the necessary resources and reforms as dental services crumble.
“The cost of not acting now will have dire consequences for the health system.”
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