Alison Johnstone MSP, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, has expressed concern at statistics showing that half of Primary One children in deprived communities have tooth decay.
The NHS report concludes that “clear health inequalities persist, and reducing dental health inequality must remain a priority.”
The main finding is that in the most deprived communities 55 per cent of P1 children have no obvious tooth decay. The national target is 60 per cent. In the least deprived communities, 82 per cent have no decay.
Alison Johnstone MSP said: “Poor dental health among children in less well-off communities is a tragedy and we must do more to turn this around. Getting children into good habits to look after their teeth is vital and there are good schemes in operation across Scotland, but we need to see greater effort to support parents, carers, school staff and communities.
“On top of that, there are steps that we can take to reduce the income inequality that contributes to poor health outcomes. I’ve already persuaded Scottish Ministers to roll-out the Healthier Wealthier Children project which boosts the incomes of vulnerable families. We can go much further by improving wages and using tax powers to put more money in the pockets of those who need it most.”
National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) Report 2016:
https://www.isdscotland.org/
