NHS dental crisis causing anxiety about nation’s oral health
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 18th March 2024
The Oral Health Index, published by the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme to coincide with World Oral Health Day on 20th March, shows broad public disenchantment with dental services across the country.
While 68% of people say they feel more confident with a healthy smile, nearly a third of people (32%) report being stressed or anxious about the state of their own oral health.
Furthermore, one in ten people (10%) in England have missed more than two weeks of work in the past three years due to dental problems, a national survey has found. The younger workforce has been hit twice as hard, with one-in-five 16- to 34-year-olds reported to have missed at least a fortnight of work over oral health problems.
Two-thirds of respondents (64%) believe the country is experiencing a crisis in dental service provision – a broadly similar proportion to 2022’s Index (67%).
An overwhelming majority (72%) of people want to see more investment from Government in dental services, with over three in five (62%) wanting dental professionals to be paid more for NHS work, three-quarters (76%) thinking more dental professionals should be recruited, and nearly half (46%) supporting fluoridation as a measure for supporting good oral health.*
Economic research commissioned by the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme last year showed that rolling out supervised toothbrushing programmes for children in targeted areas, expanding the coverage of water fluoridation schemes, and encouraging the public to chew sugar-free gum could together save the NHS over £50 million per year.[1] NHS patients could collectively save £95.9m a year.[2]
Speaking on publication of the Oral Health Index on behalf of the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme, Dr Ben Atkins said: “Without regular dental check-ups, smaller and preventable oral health issues can easily turn into much larger problems that require urgent and lengthy treatments. This is leaving people in pain and resulting in them taking extended periods of time off work, too.
“The Oral Health Index’s findings have underscored the importance of addressing the crisis in NHS dentistry.
“A mix of investment in services and preventative programmes is needed, and we want to see the contribution that sugar-free chewing gum can make to good oral health reflected in national guidance.”
British Dental Association Chair Eddie Crouch said: “The collapse of NHS dentistry isn’t just hurting millions of patients, but the wider economy. Every time Ministers take a miserly approach to funding it hits other parts of their balance sheet. Not just the costs hitting our hospitals and GP surgeries, but the millions of lost hours in our workplaces.”
References
[1] The economic value of good oral health, Frontier Economics
[2] The economic value of good oral health, Frontier Economics
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