CYP Now - Analysis: Oral health - Plan to tackle dental inequalities

The health of children's teeth can have a major impact on their wellbeing as a whole, so the Government's oral health plan aims to ensure all children get high-quality care. But while many have welcomed it others are sceptical. Asha Goveas reports.

Though dentists barely feature on the children's services landscape,healthy teeth play a major part in children's wellbeing.

Children with the most severe tooth decay can be in pain. This can makeit difficult for them to eat, and can result in missed school, sleeplessnights and time off work for parents.

Dental decay in children can often be linked to their social class. Asone dentist puts it: "You can look at a postcode and guess if childrenhave good or bad teeth." And the gap is startling. Five-year-olds areseven times more likely to experience tooth decay in the worstperforming primary care trusts than in the best.

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