Since our last issue, we have had new Public Health England figures released regarding the state of children’s oral health. It’s not good news.
Around one in four five-year-olds in the country now have tooth decay. It’s an utterly appalling situation and a truly heart-breaking one. All children need and deserve the very best start in life and the health of their mouth is usually a pretty accurate indicator as to their overall wellbeing and their quality of life. It is clear that more support, education and advice from health professionals and government for parents and teachers alike, is needed. This must then lead to more effective home care routines such as tooth brushing, more awareness about high-in-sugar foods, and the importance of regular dental visits.
Of course, this is easier to identify than put into practice but the Oral Health Foundation, along with many other healthcare organisations and teams throughout the country will be continuing our work to improve children’s oral health outcomes and statistics across the United Kingdom. This is the theme of our lead story, from Oral Health Foundation President, Janet Goodwin, as she aims to address and tackle these problems.
In the edition, we also discuss the latest blow to the gender-neutral human papillomavirus vaccination, as the JCVI once again rejected proposals to introduce a HPV vaccine programme for boys.
Our CEO speaks about mouth cancer and challenges you to be ‘mouthaware’, we comment on a new piece of research into links between tooth grinding and bullying, and we also have advice about tooth whitening too.
