Who is responsible for taking care of children’s teeth?

dentistry.co.uk/2022/08/15/half-of-all-children-in-england-dont-have-access-to-an-nhs-dentist/

I have an NHS dentist, my DH goes to a private one. My children cleaned their teeth well, used disclosing tablets and had coating put on their back teeth.
If every family was like mine and if dentists were available all would be well.
Unfortunately many children lack one or the other, some lack both.
We need to sort it out. Dentists don’t need to go into schools, with some training there should be plenty of people who could step in and teach basic dental hygiene.
We do need dentists to be available to treat those disadvantaged children if they need it. We obviously have a problem here. The NHS has got many layers of qualifications.
Perhaps we could have a system where a trained technician could check teeth and send the ones with problems onto the fully qualified dentist?
Children and adults with bad teeth cost the country a lot of money.

There is a huge shortage of nhs dentists. New dental practices are inundated and books soon full
The GP service is heading the same way. So say my medical/ GP friends
Bring on the Revolution (joke - ish)

Some parents are so ill- equipped to be parents that society somehow has to support their children, or history just repeats itself. Some children do not have proper food to eat, or someone to hear them read, some don’t have a quiet space to do homework, some don't even have a bed. And some parents don’t ensure proper teeth cleaning.
Do we expect the teachers to make up for all deficiences?
I hope not, but more and more tasks come their way.
I don’t have answers, but more support from the state is needed, through NHS dental services in this instance.

Luckygirl3
Totally agree!
Sadly not all children are blessed with parents who care. I worked in social care all my career and saw it first hand unfortunately
So children do need dental care, regular check ups and treatment as and when needed
Also diet plays a huge part, a healthy nutritious diet is very hard to maintain on a limited budget
Isn't there a saying, 'it takes a village to raise a child'

I'm in Belgium. We have good dental care and it's affordable for most. Even here some people struggle to pay the dentist - even if what they have to pay is only a fraction of the real cost it's still too much for some. In the UK (where my daughter lives with her family) making an appointment with an NHS dentist for your young children and even for an adult with some tooth-trouble seems like a treasure hunt where only a few get a prize. Going into private care is next to impossible. Yes, parents should keep,up a strict tooth hygiene for themselves and their children and have their kids brush at least once a day, but blaming parents for the lack of professional care is insane.

maddyone

If parents ensure proper teeth cleaning and restrict the amount of sugar consumed, tooth decay is rare. I know this because this is what I did with my children. They were not allowed sweets except at Easter or Christmas and other rare occasions.
Whilst I think the provision of proper dental care is part of a civilised society, I do not think that the proper care of children’s teeth is the remit of government. It is solely the responsibility of parents.

Just because your children had these rules and had good teeth it’s a very small sample that would not be enough for a survey! I feel that life was a lot easier back in the day, nowadays both parents have to work and are exhausted. So it’s going to be easier to give in to demands for sweets. It’s going to be easier not to have a battle over teeth cleaning at bedtime. As a child I almost never had sweets or fizzy drinks but needed fillings regardless. The only thing I can think of is that I had sugar in my tea. But my mother was quite strict about what we consumed. Sugar in hot drinks wouldn’t necessarily raise a concern. In any case cleaning teeth straight after consuming sugar is probably going to be enough but who has the time to oversee that. I think parents now are under far more pressure and that is the fault of the government. It’s not possible to live on one wage or one wage plus part time. Also, schools are very strict about children’s packed lunches so when are they having all this sugar? I think it’s easy to judge when we were largely stay at home mums with a few working in the evening. In the village I lived in only 2 out of about 20 mums worked full time and they were both teachers so had the school holidays off.

None of our children have ever had a school dentist or nit nurse nor were they weighed and measured.

This was in S E England.

We used to see the SCHOOL DENTIST 6 monthly when I was young ,my kids still saw the school dentist but yearly in the 80's and 90,s .I thought that was UK wide but apparently not.We were also weighed and measured every 2 years going through school as were my kids .It was never an issue we were all treated the same...queued outside the door ,weighed and measured moved onto the nit nurse asked pertinent questions about periods etc in our girls only high school.I dont rememebr anyone complaining about any of it...except the jags ,some hated them but kept it under wraps so they wouldn't be shown up in front of fiends.
Dental check ups are free for everyone in Scotland ,if you keep an eye on people you save money down the line when they may have a huge problem ,better to stop issues early

OP Have you never had or never been to a dentist ? It’s impossible now in a lot of areas for children to get an NHS dentist so if teeth are not treated more will end up in Hospital with rotten teeth. Yes parents are responsible for teeth brushing and sugar intake but I don’t believe the next generation should be denied a dentist.

Do you have a dentist or had one in the past? Many young children are now unable to register with an NHS dentist as there is a shortage and not everyone can afford to go private. According to your post no one needs a dentist if they just clean their teeth?

sandelf

East Sussex - no NHS dentists available to adults. Dentists will only see (as NHS patients) the children of their adult customers. So of course those already handicapped by - illness, unemployment, ignorance - also cannot get any help or advice on how to keep their childrens teeth good. Third world already here in the 'affluent' south east.

That isn't true! Children are taken on as NHS patient's without their parent's having to private patients.

Undoubtedly should start as a parental responsibility as should a balanced diet and instilling good manner and values along side all the other thinks that make these precious little humans grow into decent adults.
Now could some one signpost me to the ideal world please.

When I took my 6 year old son to the dentist I was told he needed a filling and that the enamel on his teeth was poor and he needed a coating on them. I burst into tears telling the dentist that my son never drank fruit squashes or ate biscuits. He rarely ate sweets and we didn’t have puddings. He asked me what my pregnancy had been like. When I told him that I was constantly sick and survived mainly on rich tea biscuits he said ‘ That’s why his teeth are poor - it’s not your fault’. My son is 46 now and till has his teeth but he may not have done without the help from that early NHS dentist.

Surely, a National Health Service should be just that and provide treatment from doctors, dentists and opticians either entirely free of charge to everyone, or free of charge to those under 18, unemployed persons and retirees, and with subsidies for those who have to pay some of the care themselves.

Yes, parents are responsible for bringing up their children, giving them good food and teaching them to wash and clean their teeth, but as all parents are not dentists, visits to the dentist will be necessary just as visits to the doctor are.

Why should parents be forced to pay, because there are no NHS dentist available ?

If the really wealthy paid more tax both health care and schooling could be greatly improved.

Totally down to the parents to look after their childrens teeth, it just part of everyday looking after your child. Many parents love to pass the buck onto the government too often.

(Today 11:55 MissAdventure

MissAdventure
...or poor genes (obviously parent's fault either way)

Oh no!!!
Not batch cooking again... 😱

Yes, poor teeth can be caused by genetic factors, but I am surprised no-one has mentioned geographical/geological factors such as what is in your water supply, and I don't mean cryptosporidium, that's on another thread.
Do you live in a 'soft' or 'hard' water area? That can affect the quality of your teeth, regardless of how well you try to look after them.
Too many of you have had dreadful experiences, and have made sure your children did not repeat that pattern. Kudos to you.
But now we have the situation under discussion. What can we do as a society, when parents can't/won't/don't step up to the mark, as you have done?
It's a bit like the 'do we give children free school meals or let them starve' dilemma. I imagine your response will be in line with how you felt about that.

It's been acknowledged, but people seem to think if they disagree with it then it can't be true and they can carry on being horrified about feckless, sweet guzzling parents.

What ever happened to The School Dentist who parked their big dentist mobile surgery in the playground. We all went into see the Dentist and small fillings were dealt with there and then! Parents were notified if there was anything more serious going on by letter going home with the child.

It has been acknowledged on this thread (including by me) that genes play a part. My son inherited my mum’s good teeth and has never had a filling, I inherited my dad’s teeth and many of my back teeth must consist of more filling than tooth.

Wow. Some amazing parents on here who take total credit for the strength of their children's teeth. Total paragons of virtue.

Perhaps you could explain a couple of things for me. DH was more or less left to bring himself up from an early age. He didn't even have a toothbrush let alone know how to use it. My mam was meticulous about brushing and we were too poor to have a lot of sweets. DH still has most of his teeth and those he lost were due to damage caused in the infantry when something unpleasant happened to him (not lack of brushing because, by then, he had and used a toothbrush). I, on the other hand, have (and have always had) awful teeth. Most of my back teeth have been removed as they rotted from the inside out. No amount of brushing or careful eating can prevent that.

My two DDs were brought up in exactly the same way. They ate the same foods, drank the same drinks, cleaned their teeth and went to the dentist every three months. They even had fissure sealing and took fluoride tablets (prescribed by the dentist). DD1 has teeth as hard as iron. Nothing bothers them. DD2 has had trouble with her teeth since early childhood. The rotted, they twisted, they didn't fall out when they should...basically anything that could go wrong went wrong and, today, as an adult, she still has problems.

Some of our sons friends who moved to another area cannot get NHS dental treatment due to the long waiting lists so they now have to pay for private treatment for their children. Luckily they can afford it but so many parents can't, it is a diabolical situation. We would be better off living back in the 50's, 60's and 70's era, where you could walk into a doctors surgery and wait to be seen and see a NHS dentist when you needed to.