Dental surgeons calls for response to national oral health ‘crisis’

Dental surgeons have added their voices to the calls for greater government action to tackle the oral health "crisis" emerging in the UK.

The Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons has launched an action paper calling for a clear government public health strategy to tackle poor rates of oral health across the country.

It noted that tooth decay is now the most common cause of hospital admissions among children between the ages of five and nine, with 26,500 youngsters admitted to hospital between 2014 and 2015 –  an increase of nearly 1,000 from the previous year.

As such, the paper has outlined a number of potential corrective measures, such as a renewed focus on prevention, universal access to high-quality care and the launch of an oral health programme targeted at areas of social deprivation.

It was also recommended that other healthcare professionals should be further encouraged to provide preventive advice to patients, while the HPV vaccine should be extended to boys to help reduce increasing rates of oral cancer.

Professor Nigel Hunt, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "We want to see a clear government strategy that raises awareness of the importance of simple measures such as reducing sugar consumption or visiting a dentist and drives up standards in oral health nationally."