Cllr Marcus Ginnn writes
All of us wish to support the most vulnerable in our society and The Children’s Oral Health Task Group is an example of a cross-party effort to do so.
44.5% of 5 year old children sampled in the borough in 2007-8 had some dmft (decayed, missing, filled, teeth) experience vs a national average of 33%. This statistic suggests that H&F children have the third worst oral health in London. The negative implications of this include 300 admissions to C&W hospital per year for young children from the borough, distress, lost schooling and a poor early pattern
of self-care.
The Education Select Committee, chaired by Cllr Johnson, set up a Task Group which I chaired and which also included Cllrs Tobias and Needham, to investigate the issue. We proposed a 4 point strategy which has now been approved by Cabinet and the PCT:
1. Getting the message across (key messages to children, families, professionals)
2. Targeting and outreach (focussing upon the most at-risk groups in our borough, and reaching out to them with targeted programmes including a Fluoride Varnish programme)
3. Increasing links between dentist and at-risk groups
4. Partnerships (between all professionals who touch children’s lives – all can promote good oral health).
The Education Select Committee will monitor the implementation of our proposals over coming months.
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