A new Review of Dental Health in Salford to be presented to Salford Council's Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel next week expresses "concern that Salford has high levels of dental decay and that action is required to address the issues".
The report examines three recent surveys of the state of oral health amongst the city's children which reveal some shocking statistics...
A 2016/17 survey found that 44.6% of Salford's five year olds had evidence of tooth decay compared to 23.3% nationally.
A 2014/15 survey showed that 51% of the city's children had an average of two teeth with decay, while another study from 2015/16 showed that 359 children aged 0-19 "were admitted to hospital for removal of teeth under general anaesthetic in Salford, 66 of those being age 0-4 years".
Areas with the worst average number of 'decayed, missing and filled teeth caused by tooth decay' for five year olds were East Salford and Swinton, followed by Ordsall and Langworthy, Claremont and Weaste, and Eccles.
Nationally, Salford has been highlighted as one of thirteen 'priority areas' by NHS England 'due to the persistently high levels of dental decay at five years old'. Oldham, Bolton and Rochdale also on the watch list.
The Greater Manchester Transformation Programme has now appointed a full-time worker in Salford, funded by NHS England, to help with the reduction of tooth decay in children up to the age of five.
They will be "looking at changing habits and supporting the reduction of dental disease in our population" the report states "By increasing fluoride application along with brushing will support the reduction of dental decay. This will be accompanied by literature to educate families on the cause of tooth decay. Providing this information early is important to prevent bad habits becoming embedded into life styles."
Together with this initiative, the Start Well partnership between Salford City Council, Salford Clinical Commissioning Group and Salford Community Leisure has created #SugarSmartSalford and activities have included GULP, with St Patrick RC High School, in which Year 8 pupils gave up sugared drinks for water during February; Sugar Smart Brownies, in which a challenge and badge were developed with the support of the 1st Boothstown group; and Sugar Smart Vending in which the city's venues only sell sugar-free drinks.
Health visitors, school nurses, dentists and the Health Improvement Team are also working to improve oral health in children, providing fluoride toothpaste, brushes and education leaflets with the emphasis on prevention.
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