Sir, – The recent report from the Ombudsman for Children’s Office has found that Ireland’s public dental service “is failing to consistently meet the needs of all children” (“Public dentistry ‘failing to meet needs of children’, says ombudsman”, September 10th).
It is a valuable and timely report that shines a much-needed light on the crisis in children’s public dental services. The stories behind the statistics are particularly powerful. No child should be left in pain, waiting years for treatment or reach adulthood with a dental problem that could have been addressed much earlier.
The report rightly calls for urgent action on waiting lists, screening, orthodontic care and access to treatment. But I wonder if the proposed plan misses an important opportunity: prevention at the earliest possible stage?
Screening is important, but it is not prevention. If we are serious about improving children’s oral health, we need to start before problems develop, supporting parents and children with practical, evidence-based advice from the earliest years and continuing that education throughout primary school.
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There are already valuable resources to build on. The Dental Health Foundation Ireland has developed evidence-based oral-health prevention resources for children, including Mighty Mouth, a school programme originally created more than 20 years ago. While it is in need of updating, it includes parent packs and teachers’ lesson plans and demonstrates that much of the groundwork for effective school-based oral health education already exists.
Every primary schoolchild should have access to consistent, age-appropriate oral health education, regardless of where they live or whether their family can afford private dental care. This should complement – not replace – properly funded access to treatment.
We urgently need to fix the waiting lists and rebuild public dental services. But we also need to stop the revolving door of preventable dental disease.
An updated, properly supported programme delivered consistently through our primary schools could be a simple but powerful investment in helping children develop good oral health habits and preventing many problems before they begin. – Yours, etc,
ORLAITH KENNEDY,
Chief executive officer,
Dental Health Foundation Ireland.
