Following plans for a phased ban on tobacco, the British Dental Association (BDA) says the government must now show the same ambition across public health, given its consistent failure to grasp the nettle on prevention in the face of deep and widening inequality.

The prime minister has proposed annual rises in the legal age for purchasing cigarettes. The move, echoing an approach already in force in New Zealand, has the potential to ensure the next generation grows up smoke free.

Dental professionals are on the frontline in the battle against oral cancer - which claims more lives each year than car accidents - and gum disease. Smoking is one of the key drivers of both conditions.

Dental leaders stress ministers must now show they are serious about prevention across all areas of health. The BDA says the ongoing access crisis in NHS dentistry is fuelling widening inequalities, with unmet need for NHS dentistry in 2023 estimated at one in four of England’s adult population. The first oral health survey of five-year-olds published since lockdown showed no improvements in decay levels.

The government pledged a recovery plan for NHS dentistry in April 2023 that remains unpublished. Its official response to the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into NHS dentistry has been overdue since September 14.

The professional body has lamented the drift of bans on prime-time junk food advertising and on buy-one-get-one-free offers for products high in sugar.

Despite the Health and Care Act ‘simplifying’ the process for water fluoridation, there is no indication capital funding is being brought forward for rollout.

Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association’s Health and Science Committee, said, “Government seems willing to be bold and ambitious on tobacco but appears to be waving a white flag on the wider prevention agenda.

“Deep-seated health inequalities in this country are widening with every passing day. We need real commitment to close that gap.”

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