80 per cent of toddlers skipping dental check-ups: shock new figures
Despite recent pleas from dentists for parents to book regular check-ups for children over the age of 6 months, new figures show that a shocking 80 per cent of toddlers aged under two failed to go to the dentist in the past year.
Many parents simply don’t know when to start taking their children to the dentist, according to members of the Faculty of Dental Surgery; they attribute the worrying figures to their “widespread misunderstanding” of children’s oral development. Now parents have been advised by concerned dentists to take their young children to a dentist as soon as possible, as failure to do so could result in gum disease or decay.
There is “no excuse” for people living in a country where free HNS dental care is available to anyone under the age of 18, according to the faculty’s dean, Professor Nigel Hunt. There is apparent confusion as to the best time to begin taking children to the dentist, and many parents are not aware that their children require regular check-ups.
The professor continued to state that the earlier parents are able to take their toddlers for regular checks, the sooner they will be made aware that children are not, in fact, immune to oral health complications. This warning follows a recent report that revealed surgeons have had to operate on children as young as 2 years old, and that there has been a dramatic spike in the number of infants requiring extractions and other surgical treatment.
The new report shows slightly better news for children aged between 2 and 3, however the result is still worrying, with 60 per cent failing to see their dentists in the past year. Experts have now urged parents to register children for check-ups the moment they begin developing milk teeth and to continue this every 6 months.
