Brush your teeth twice a day, avoid sugary snacks and drinks and visit the dentist regularly. These are all messages parents should be giving their children from a young age. However, according to recent figures, these messages aren’t getting through to parents or their children.
Worryingly, 12 per cent of three year olds have tooth decay and almost a third of five year olds are suffering from the disease, according to Public Health England. Meanwhile, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) tells us that almost 26,000 children between five and nine years old were admitted to hospital in 2013-2014 for tooth
extractions. Tooth decay is the number one reason for hospital admissions for children in this age group and the numbers keep on increasing, up 14 per cent in three years.
The lucky ones
So why is tooth decay on the rise among our children, despite good public health education and access to highly-skilled professionals and services? Indeed, according to HSCIC, seven out of 10 children saw an NHS dentist in the 24-month period to June 2013, for a check-up or dental treatment.
Experts put the blame firmly at the door of Western diets, loaded with sugary and acidic food and drink. For younger children, who are using bottles and sipping cups filled with juice or sugary drinks, the problem is exacerbated.
However, despite the shocking statistics, these children are the lucky ones. Why? Because they have access to treatment. When in need, their parents can take them to a dentist, be referred to a hospital when necessary, and get them the help they need, all within a reasonable timeframe and with limited pain or inconvenience. These children are lucky because with better education about their diet and dental regime they can go on to have healthy adult teeth and a life free from the health problems decayed teeth can bring.
No access
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for their counterparts in the developing world. Here, the Western diet of sugary drinks and sweets that has caused a headache for parents in the UK is becoming more popular. However, for the children who consume these treats in countries such as Tanzania, there is one big difference; they have little or no access to dental treatment or oral health education.
Along with three-quarters of the world’s population, these children are not able to access even the most simple dental pain relief, leaving billions to face an ongoing debilitating battle with pain that, in worst can scenarios, can result in death.
Effective training
However, there is a way to minimise the damage our Western diet is doing to children across the globe. Bridge2Aid, a charity that helps to improve access to safe emergency dental treatment and equip health professionals with the skills to perform simple but effective treatment, has a plan.
This plan has resulted in 3.3m people (many of them children) in East Africa getting the help they need. Bridge2Aid’s training programmes have put high-demand emergency dental treatment into the hands of rural health professionals.
These professionals are often the first point of contact for communities in the developing world and it is essential they can perform simple extractions, so that children can be pain-free and back to school as soon as possible.
They also help with oral health education to prevent the problem returning. Health professionals trained by Bridge2Aid have demonstrated they can treat 98 per cent of problems, referring just two per cent of the time. Crucially, 94 per cent of patients are satisfied with the service, so the system really works.
Bridge2Aid has helped millions of people over the past decade and its work goes on. With an annual pain prevalence of 59 per cent, and 63 per cent of those cases likely to lead to complications, it’s clear there is still a
long way to go.
Can you help provide rural communities in Africa and elsewhere with the tools to help themselves? Donating just £5 a month gives ongoing access to pain relief to a whole family.
Visit www.bridge2aid.org/whatif to join with Bridge2Aid in its mission to make access to simple, safe, emergency dental treatment available to all.