PUTTING A SMILE ON THE FACE OF YOUNG PEOPLE
BY DR SARA HURLEY CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER ENGLAND
Dr Sara Hurley was appointed Chief Dental Officer England in July 2015 . She has served with the Armed Forces as clinical dentist and her subsequent career portfolio has expanded across the domains of public health , wider healthcare policy and latterly commissioning . As the advocate for the patient and the profession , in her role as CDO she provides the Department of Health ministerial support team with professional advice , advises on NHS England ’ s strategic ambition for dental care provision , supports the development of clinical policy and quality improvement programme as well as supporting Health Education England on dental workforce development and training .
A t the NHS England Innovation EXPO 2016 , Dr Sara Hurley , Chief Dental Officer , England highlighted the need for a national campaign to improve oral health in England . Thus she proposed a national campaign – “ SMILE4LIFE ” which aims to “ Put the Mouth Back in The Body ” by raising awareness amongst all health and social care providers . The aspiration is to ensure that oral health is fully integrated into every health and social care pathway , especially those that support children and young adults .
Dental Practice was fortunate to meet with Dr Sara Hurley to discuss the first steps and longer term ambitions for SMILE4LIFE
Dental Practice ( DP ): Can you begin by outlining why we need a national campaign to improve oral health , and one ��e��fi��ll� ����e�ed �� �h�ld�e�� Dr Sara Hurley ( SH ): Overall levels of tooth decay in England are falling … but not for everyone . The rate of reduction is slowing , and it is a sad reflection of the state of the oral health of England that during 2014-2015 over 63,000 children were admitted to hospital for teeth extraction , 26,000 of these for extraction under general anaesthetic . If that is not good enough reason to re-think and re-focus our efforts then the fact that a third of five-year-olds in the North West suffer from tooth decay compared to only a fifth of children in the same age bracket in the South East or that twice the number of five-year-olds ( 3.9 %) in Yorkshire and the Humber have had tooth extractions due to decay , compared to children the same age in the
Child tooth decay
East Midlands ( 1.9 %) should be prompting not just questions about health inequalities but action . Children ’ s dental decay remains a stark reminder of the broader health inequalities that persist in 21st century Britain and it demands national attention .
DP : So why are some children experiencing tooth decay and not others ? Dr Sara Hurley ( SH ): We know that prevention of dental decay is possible - less sugar , a good tooth brushing habit , more fluoride , regular check-ups , starting with a first dental check by one year . Getting the messages across is one thing , getting the messages acted upon is a different set of challenges . We hear a lot about lack of access and some of the differences do correlate with availability of practices and commissioned services . However , we also see differing behaviours that appear to be linked to social deprivation including poor nutrition with high and frequent consumption of free sugars and a lack of access to fluoride , whether that be through infrequent tooth brushing , or the use of low or no fluoride toothpaste . Equally , we have evidence of a strong social gradient in patterns of attendance at the dentist , with poorer children being less likely to attend . The result , children in deprived communities are less likely to be taken to dental services by their parents or carers and do not benefit from preventive programmes such as fluoride varnish , fissure sealants and individual dietary advice nor to have disease diagnosed and managed before extraction is necessary .
In essence , children from poorer backgrounds suffer oral health and dental problems disproportionately when compared to children u
10 Dental Practice Magazine