A crucial determinant of health

Aim

To discuss the relationship between dental health, social determinants of health and life outcomes for children and their families.

Objectives

This article meets GDC development outcomes A, C and D.

The General Dental Council (2013) Standards advocate the provision of both holistic and preventative approaches to dental care, tailored to individual needs. In the case of caring for children, preventative practice becomes even more critical, due to the lifelong impact treatment interventions have. Dental services faced unprecedented restrictions during the worst periods of the covid lockdown in 2020, with the stoppage of potentially eight million episodes of dental care in April and May 2020 alone when compared to previous years, and only small, slow increases of treatment delivered across the remainder of the acute phase of the pandemic (Care Quality Commission, 2021). The pausing of dental care during this period compounded issues of limited access to NHS treatment, with reduced service capacity seen in multiple regions across England (Care Quality Commission, 2022), disproportionately disadvantaging those in more deprived communities.