Shocking figures reveal the state of our children’s teeth

Mar 20 2008 by Samantha Mendez, Rhymney Valley Express

SHOCKING statistics have revealed children as young as five years old in Caerphilly have been found to have an average of three missing, decayed or filled teeth.

The grim figures placed Caerphilly as the third worst area out of all the local authorities covered by the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, Blaenau Gwent came first with 3.96, closely followed by Merthyr Tydfil with an average of 3.91.

Following the horrifying figures on the state of our children’s teeth, the Government announced a drive to get children brushing their not-so-pearly whites.

The NHS trust, local health board staff, and the community dental service are set to give schoolchildren lessons in the classroom during the school day.

Professor Elizabeth Treasure, of the University Dental Hospital, said: “Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust runs a Community Dental Service which provides dentistry services for children and patients with special requirements.

“Our focus is helping children understand the importance of looking after their teeth when they are younger. Teaching good dental habits from an early age prevents lots of problems later in life.

“The mobile dental service visits schools and talks to the children about tooth brushing, and we are pleased that the Minister has announced there will be more support to help children with chronic tooth decay.”

Huw Ginn, principal dentist at the Bargoed Dental Centre, said: “ I think the classroom initiative is a great idea and a new way to improve the dental health of children.

“We are very limited with the few minutes we have with the children when they are at the practice, and there are a lot of children who don’t come regularly and who fall through the net, and we can’t give advice to them

“The critical factor is their diet, and what we are finding is the diets are higher in sugary snacks and drinks which are very damaging to children’s teeth.

“Anything to try to encourage children and their parents to take better care of their teeth is a good idea.”