Children & dental health

Two things,

If the parents cannot register then they are far less likely to register their kids. It aught to be mandatory for there to be sufficient dentist places for the populous and stop dentists from charging for extras.

If the local goverments are serious then reduce the number of opportunities to purchase sweets. Limit the space available in outlets like supermarkets, corner shops and prevent shops that would usually sell clothes to sell sweets. Wherever you turn you can buy sweets... 

My children go to the dentist about four times a year. The secondary school they attend in Lewisham sells the usual type of food offered by most schools in the UK in addition to fizzy drinks, fruit juice, cookies, donuts and other foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fats. As far as I understand it is possible, and common, for children to buy just these high sugar items for their lunch without having to order a proper meal. I would like to see more joined up thinking across government and public health which resulted in schools not selling anything unhealthy to their pupils and engendering in them a good understanding of a healthy balanced diet and the reasons this is important.

My Son brushes his teeth twice a day. Something he has been taught since he could hold a tooth brush. However, he has developed asthma. Something I can only attribute to the dreadfully bad planning around Farringdon by both Camden and TFL. Who is the incompetent planner please. I would like to start legal action for assault and gbh to my son. 

I take my 15 year old son to the dentist every six months and he has never had a single filling or any tooth decay. It's actually the same for myself!  I always used to brush his teeth for him when he was little because I noticed that most young children do not brush their teeth properly. It's never been a problem getting appointments at our dentist and this is an NHS dentist. I avoid sugary treats, sweets and snacks and he didn't have any fizzy drinks until he was older. At the end of the day it is the responsibility of parents. I have noticed that there are so many children with appalling teeth. Parents give their chidren too much sugar, suagry drinks, snacks and sweets, don't supervise brushing and don't go to the dentist unless their chidren develop problems. Unfortuantely, irresponsible parenting, for whatever excuse, is the root of the problem.

It is hard to get to the dentist because they only have appointments during school time including not during holidays. One of the schools gives prizes for good attendence at school and the other penalises. The children dont want to go because they are worried about the schools reaction. 

Whilst at primary school they were given sweets/ buns etc reguarly at the after school club. Also schools ( primary and secondary) give sweets as rewards. I dont allow mine to have sweets esecially at primary school age so it annoyed me that they were allowed them at school and not at home. I dont think schools should be allowed to give sweets as rewards. stickers, magazines etc should suffice. 

We used to take my children to the dentist twice a year, but now they're grown up, I'm not sure how often they go.

Booking the dentist is easier than the hygienist, so I always make bookings for 6 months in advance as soon as I've finished a session.

I often hear people at the Reception desk being turned away when they ask to join the patient lists - I think the government's attitude to funding dentistry as second-best to doctors has made treatments more difficult to get and more expensive when you do.

I partially disagree with the comment below. We should not be encouraging children to eat fewer carbohydrates; bread, potatoes, fruit and vegetables are healthy and even sugary and fatty foods can be enjoyed in moderation. Perhaps we need more visibility concerning what constitutes good dental health, including the effects of acidic (e.g. citrus) as well as sugary food and drink (e.g. milk) on tooth enamel and what good brushing looks like. I do think that more frequent dentist checkups would be beneficial for children. 

Registered at local NHS dentist. Have no problem with appointments (Wandsworth borough); take 5 year old every 6 months. She brushes twice a day. No issues here.

Alison,

I think more awareness can be created or generated via Health Teams (NHS) visiting schools in London and delivering an info session or some sort of workshop regarding this issue for children and their parents! A power point presentation could be delivered, for instance, showing actual visual images depicting the effects of unhealthy eating and sugar consumption on teeth (tooth decay). Majority of people tend to remember visual images better so this may drill home the message!

We took our child when he was five year to our family dentist McKennell dental practice. She sent him to Chelsey and Westminster hospital to be 14 of his teethes to be pulled out under antistatic (although many of these teethes could be treated using florid). However we trusted the family dentist and the dentist at the hospital and accepted their decision to pull as many as 14 teethes. The consequents of this action very badly has affected our sons health, as he wasn’t able to eat. He became very week associated moths ulcers. The affects are continuing and nothing was done to support this poor child. 

We visit dentist evey 6 months. There is no problem to book in advance for a half term.
It's about hygine. Brushing and no eating sweets at night time.

I think a lot of parents are aware of the sugars that are easy to spot, but mistakenly compensate with sugars that are hidden. Lots of well-meaning parents give snacks of fruit and granola bars, even yoghurts, that are packed with sugar and if a child snacks on them throughout the day, this can be as ruinous for teeth as regular dosing with Haribo. My dad is a dentist and his practice started to routinely warn parents about raisins. Those lovely little packs of goodness, we all think - but in essence, super sticky pure sugar that will coat teeth for ages. Parents could try to think about the number and frequency of the snacks we dole out, for the sake of our child's weight as well as dental health. 

Obviously, ultimately it has to do with bad habits and poor food and drink choices. My children only drink water and coconut water. Any form of juice is only a treat. They always brush their teeth after eating anything sugary too. I think so many parents don't brush their teeth before going to bed, they believe it's more important to brush their teeth in the morning! I also think they should brush their teeth after lunch at school. I was brought up brushing my teeth three times a day and never had a singla cavity. Finally, I'd also say that access to NHS dentists in London is so difficult! Once your child is in school the times they can see a dentist are limited. My local dentist only attends on the NHS from 11am to 4pm. At the beginning of January I managed to book an appoiuntment for my daughter only for the end of March.

We have a son nearly 14 who never had bignore dental issues  

We have always pushed him to brush his teeth twice a day with an electric tooth brush and not allowing high sugar snacks

make all primary schools water only . kids drink way too much sugar

dentists should do more to promote healthy food /diet

ban all sugary drink sales

ban adverts completly of junk food and sugary drinks of

flourise water

why cant more generalist staff such as midwive, creches etc check teeth and help make appointments - we need to join up better

improve school food its poor quality and often high in sugar

ban vending machine on all TFL estate and community places

make companies like coke pay for dental interventions

ban opening times of fast food and sweet shops at peak school hours

I agree - closely linked to food education

The Mayor's office or Councils could also do some work to restrict publicity around harmful foods

We go twice a year. Having tried NHS dentists locally we found the service poor. Didn't like the dentists etc. We have ended up going private, whilst the kids get free treatment, they only do if we are seen as well (and pay for our treatment). 

Not ideal, I always had NHS dentists growing up and was always happy. Service certainly has gone down . I can't help thinking this is part of the reason we are seeing reduced dentist attendance in kids...

NHS Dentists are not easy to find. I have had to move from three different dental practices as about a year after setting up as a NHS practice, they go completely private. I have had to pay a lot (loans) for private treatment to bypass the extremely long NHS wait lists. Have had to spend £2000 on 12 year olds braces as dentist said wait list would be 2 years and needed to be done sooner. £3,500 on other teenagers teeth and braces. I am paying off still. I have spent £1,500 on my own teeth for treatments and caps rather than look toothless! Long waits to get check up, with a ‘dental clean’ now been another appointment at £50, even for children. This needs to be free for kids! Dentist badgers us into too many check ups than is necessary, with threats to remove family if do not! Need more NHS dentists giving a proper service rather than charging constantly. We try to reduce our sugar intake as a family but you need nerves of steel to resist all the food advertising. I have seen people turned away from dentists who are desparate for treatment but can not afford the charge for not been registered! There is no free NHS dentistry. Even on benefits most treatments will not be available. Totally wrong as good teeth means good health.

We are lucky to have a very good dental practice in our area where my daughter gets her free NHS treatment (I have to pay). My daughter has a check-up every 6 months and her teeth are healthy. Around two years ago she was referred to an orthodontist and had a brace - this was also free on the NHS which is brilliant. My teeth are also healthy in large part due to genetics, I think, but also due to great care by mum who made sure we attended the dentist regularly and limited sweets/fizzy drinks which meant I developed good habits very early. I am in my 50s and have no fillings.

I suggest that if there are concerns about children’s dental health in London you look at Glasgow who have made great strides in dental health over the last 15 years or so, from a very low starting point (the worst dental health in Europe at one point) I think they had a free toothbrush/toothpaste scheme for infants/pre-schoolers and introduce toothbrushing as part of nursery routines.