Action is needed to tackle inequalities in oral health among children, according to dentists.
New data shows P1 children from the most deprived areas experience more than four times the level of tooth decay compared to their counterparts in the least deprived areas.
The British Dental Association (BDA) said Scotland is at a “turning point” in oral health due to the lack of check-ups during the pandemic.
A report from the national dental inspection programme found 71% of P1 children were free from tooth decay in 2019-20, up 3% from the previous year.
In the most deprived areas 58.1% of P1 pupils had avoided decay compared with 86.9% in the most affluent areas.
The BDA warned coronavirus restrictions and sugar-rich diets during lockdown mean inequalities have likely persisted.
Robert Donald, chairman of the BDA’s Scottish council, said: “Covid risks undoing decades of progress in improving the dental health of our children.
READ MORE: Coronavirus Scotland: Emails reveal SQA rejection of 'fallback' grade
“Dentistry in Scotland is at a turning point. Routine check-ups remain off the cards for most families, our public health programmes are struggling and high street practices face a deeply uncertain future.
“The oral health gap between rich and poor – which has proved so stubborn – will widen unless we see real commitment from the Scottish Government.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here