Supermarket chain's plan to tackle tooth decay among the country's most deprived children
A supermarket chain and a toothpaste firm are joining forces to help save the teeth of children in the country’s most deprived areas.
Recent figures show a huge gap between the numbers of primary-school aged children in Scotland with tooth decay in the most and least deprived areas of the country. In the wealthiest areas just 12% of primary pupils had decay but that rose to 28.1% in the most deprived.
And even though the gap has shortened from 2009, when there was a was 26.3 percentage points difference .
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David McColl, chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish dental practice committee, said though that the Scottish government must not declare it is “mission accomplished”. And he warned recently: “Our children are paying the price for the crisis in NHS dentistry - hard won gains are going into reverse.”
Now Asda & Colgate have announced they are donating 70,000 dental kits to schools in the most deprived parts of the UK to help fight tooth decay.
The initiative will see more free dental kits, consisting of a toothbrush, toothpaste, an educational leaflet and a brushing chart for children, sent directly to more than 1,600 schools.
Tooth decay remains the leading cause of hospital admission for children aged five to nine years with those living in the most deprived communities 3.5 times more likely to have a decaying tooth extracted than children in more affluent areas.
Hayley Tatum, Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer at Asda, said: “Children from the most deprived communities clearly face an uphill battle when it comes to receiving basic dental care.
“By providing the tools and educational materials to over 1600 schools and 70,000 students, we hope to help children to establish healthy dental habits and behaviours that they can continue for the rest of their lives.”
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