Dentists call for urgent reform as charities step in to fill access gap for school children

The BBC learned that with no local practices able to provide NHS care, teachers at Trinity Academy Grammar in Calderdale had appealed to their local authority, who have arranged for the charity Dentaid to assess and treat their pupils. Many of these children have not seen a dentist since the onset of the pandemic, impacting on both their health and ability to learn. The BDA understands the charity has already provided treatment to as many as 80 children for conditions including decayed and cracked teeth and abscesses, as part of a visit set to last for two weeks.

Over 40 million NHS appointments have been lost since lockdown in England alone – amounting to over a year's worth of dentistry in normal times – including over 12.5 million for children. Given the ongoing disruption to dental services and public health programmes, experts warn these unprecedented backlogs mean oral health inequality will inevitably widen, resulting in patients requiring more extensive, time-consuming and costly interventions. Tooth decay has long been the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children.