With more and more families struggling to get access to an NHS dentist, teaching children good dental habits from a young age can be invaluable to help maintain good oral health. Did you know that at Get Dental Plans, all of our company dental plans include cover for all members of the family? So, when you take out a company dental plan for your employees, you are also helping them to protect the oral health of their children.
In previous years it has been reported that almost 3,500 children aged five and under had rotten teeth taken out in hospital, as child tooth decay worsened in nearly a third of London. Almost 9 out of 10 hospital tooth extractions among children aged 0 to 5 are due to preventable tooth decay, according to data published by Public Health England (PHE).
Poor dental health, including tooth decay and gum disease, can impact a person’s general health and wellbeing and even has a link to heart disease and diabetes. The leading causes of dental diseases are entirely preventable, so it’s hugely worrying to see recent statistics on the number of children having tooth extractions due to tooth decay.
Tooth decay can cause problems with eating and sleeping, and results in at least 60,000 days being missed from school during the year for hospital extractions alone. Tooth decay could be prevented by cutting down on sugar and practicing good oral hygiene.
The College has called for supervised tooth brushing sessions to be introduced in nurseries and primary schools across England, as similar initiatives in Scotland and Wales have already been successful in improving children’s oral health. This is now being actively adopted by many schools and nurseries across the UK.
Many parents don’t realise that children should begin seeing their dentist as soon as their first teeth start coming through. By doing so dentists can not only spot any early warning signs, but also ensure that children grow up feeling comfortable with and used to regular visits, promoting long-term good oral health.
In 2022 NHS figures revealed that only 6.5 million children visited the dentist – just under 60 per cent of the total population of children.
The leading causes for dental diseases – such as diet and poor oral care – are entirely preventable so there is a real need to improve and encourage preventative measures, including promoting children’s oral health. While we are seeing a step in the right direction in raising awareness of the importance of child and adult oral health more still needs to be done.
Dental insurance plans from Get Dental Plans are a great way to introduce good oral health to all members of the family. Our individual dental insurance plans can cover the whole family and can instill good attitudes to dental care across the whole family. When you take the worry of dental care out of the equation, regular family visits to the dentist become a natural part of family life. Regular contact with a dentist for your child can underpin all the important oral hygiene messages that you are telling your children every day!
Don't leave dental costs to chance, contact us today at Get Dental Plans to see how dental insurance can help to improve the oral health of the whole family.
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