Dental Hygiene in Children - Coursework Example

Dental Hygiene in Children Introduction: Dental hygiene in children under the age of five is an important aspect which is covered by dentists worldwide. Dentists have to give special attention to the dental hygiene of children because of their proper development and jaw formation and for chewing purposes. Many studies have proposed that ill hygiene in this age will most likely cause severe teeth problems when the children reach their teenage and then adolescence (Manning, 2013). It is thus important to manage and control the mouth problems and dental hygiene in the early age to prevent many severe diseases and problems (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). This paper will analyze a wide range of topics including the policies of dental care in children, the awareness programs, the guidelines for preventing problems and diseases, and the consequences faced by children if they are not provided proper dental care at the right time. This paper will focus on the British dental care and the awareness programs and policies adopted by the government healthcare sector to provide adequate dental care to the children. Why this topic is chosen: The topic of dental hygiene in children has been chosen for this assignment because it is a part of dental healthcare which is the most important in solving and preventing many problems. Dentists and government healthcare professionals in UK have started raising awareness for dental hygiene importance in children under five years (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). There are a number of policies that are currently being applied, and many programs that are planned to improve the future of the dental healthcare. These policies and programs are discussed in this paper to analyze the position and conclude the status of dental healthcare for children in the UK. Appendix I illustrates the healthy benefits of having healthy and well cured teeth. Current position of healthcare in UK: The British government is still working hard to implement policies that support the dental health care of children from pregnancy to 5 years of age. These policies must be implemented to ensure that children are safe from having bad teeth and severe teeth problems in the future. The government has been involved in many controversies with the British Dental Association (BDA) and General Dental Council (GDC) to work together and serve the children efficiently. It may be difficult to point the current position of the dental healthcare in the UK. This is mostly because the NHS dentistry is not serving the patients properly increasing the complaints and unsatisfactory levels of patients (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). The current position of the dental healthcare in the UK can be judged by the warning given to the Ministers recently for the NHS dentistry being ‘unfit for purpose’ (Marsden, 2014). There have been hundreds of complaints recently which focus on the obsession of the government with their targets even at the cost of permitting professionals to spend much time with patients. Family dentists have been seen accusing the ministers for hiding the truth about the mismanaged system of the state-funded dental system (Marsden, 2014). The state managed system of the dental healthcare has been continually compromised and hindrances have been observed that hamper the work of dentists and make it impossible for them to deliver high standard care. The ministers were accused for the lack of high quality standards of healthcare that has become impossible to provide even though the government has promised for it to the whole population (Marsden, 2014). The dentists have stated that despite the public awareness and advancements in dental healthcare, there are millions of children in UK who are admitted to the hospital because of tooth decay (Marsden, 2014). The dental professionals believe that this is because of the government manipulations of statistics and figures that have hidden the bitter truth about the mismanagement and comprises made. Some of these mismanagements are avoiding using the modern methods of treatment such as X-Rays and using improper techniques of how decay is reported, measured, and prevented. The lack of use of proper techniques such as using eyesight to track the decay is alone a problem which hides the severe decay causing in most children’s teeth (Marsden, 2014). Awareness programs and campaigns by the UK government: Awareness campaigns have been a very important part of the British dentistry as raising awareness for the importance of dental healthcare in children has been considered vital. It was found out that thousands of children in Britain are suffering from teeth loss and the government is being alarmed to tackle the problem (Manning, 2013). In Britain, every year nearly thousands of children get their teeth removed under general anesthetic. The main reason for the need for removal is teeth decay and the subject had got so worst that there are children who need to get 16 or more teeth removed (Manning, 2013). The NHS latest data suggests that dental problems have become the fourth common reason why children are admitted to the hospital. Other statistics show that about 33 percent of children have cavity of some kind. Children aged 0-5 years old suffer similar problems which are usually at their initial stages. These children have a high intake of sugar products and drinks such as drinks and candies. Children above 4 years of age usually get their sugar intake from fizzy drinks (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). The dental experts in the UK have alarmed the government to form a campaign which will focus on the dental healthcare of children from 0-5 years of age. This is because there are many aspects of dental hygiene for such young children that have remained unnoticed. These problems put the children’s oral health in danger and thus it needs attention (Manning, 2013). At this moment, the statistics show that the children see the dentist first time at the age of six or seven instead of 18 months. Children should be visiting the dentist from the age of 18 months in order to detect problems earlier and prevent them from getting severe (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). This is something which must be addressed and widespread among parents. The problem arises when children are taken to the dentists when their cavities or holes in teeth have increased rather than when the holes are tiny and manageable. When the holes are tiny which means when the child is younger than six years of age, the treatment becomes easier and less painful whereas when the holes have advanced, the disease may require painful procedures as well as multiple extractions (Manning, 2013). Very young children who need to have more than 4 teeth extracted are usually put to sleep during the process. It has been a worrying phenomenon that children are getting their teeth extracted at large numbers even when the tooth decay is preventable. There have been many policies and advancements in dental health care to improve the number of children facing dental problems but these figures show that the dental healthcare has rather deteriorated. Tooth decay which is the major reason why children visit dentists from an early age is easily preventable (Manning, 2013). Government professionals are carrying out campaigns in which adults will be notified and given awareness about the need to prevent tooth decay in children as well the ways in which it can be prevented. The main causes for tooth decay are improper brushing, drinking sugary products like fizzy drinks or acidic fruit juices. Parents commonly give their young children fruit juices five times a day which may be very harmful. The awareness campaign must cover all these issues to increase awareness (Manning, 2013). The largest oral health campaign to be held in UK is in 2014 namely National Smile Month (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). The campaign would be carried out from May 2014 to June 2014. The focus of this campaign was to reach the children and adults to coordinate with the activities carried out throughout UK to improve oral health. The campaign does not focus on the young children specifically, but the key messages and guidelines are applied to all. The campaign’s key messages are to brush teeth twice a day for two minutes using toothpaste with fluoride. The intake of sugary foods and drinks must cut down, and the visit to the dentist must be regular or as frequent as they have recommended (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). There are about 3000 organizations that are involved in the National Smile Month and the campaign directly reaches out to more than 50 million people. Dental professionals are reaching schools, nurseries, businesses, community groups, and members of the general public to organize many of their activities such as sponsored events, fun days, road shows, talks, displays, open sessions, and many other activities to make the campaign successful (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). The National Smile Month has previously gained much attention and has also been successful in making a positive change. In UK, the inequalities in dental health care have continued to exist despite the improvements in the past 30 years (Manning, 2013). This campaign will help the parents to understand the needs of their children from an early age before the problems are worsened. The National Smile Month will contribute greatly to the oral hygiene of children less than 5 years of age to brighten their smile and boost their self-esteem (Manning, 2013). Promoting health policies: The British dentistry has seen many highs and lows. Throughout the history British dental care is questioned and compared with the American dental care which has been better in many ways. The dental care has rather been taken as a joke in many occasions also through television programs like The Simpsons. There have been many efforts made by the British Dental Association as well as the NHS to ensure that dental policies are favorable enough for all citizens to have the British smile (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). This part of the paper will discuss the varying policies of the British Dental Association in order to make it better. There was a major controversy in dental care in 2005 which lead to the application of controversial rules in dentists. The policy surrounded denied dental care for children because of these rules which were forced on the dentists. New contracts were to be given to dentists which meant that they were restricted to choose the patients that they would want to treat. This rule was imposed because the BDA concluded that when dentists are allowed to choose the patients that they want to treat, all or most of them would choose private work only. According to the NHS (Hubley & Copeman, 2008), school going children are subjected to free dental care currently. Children may be treated on the NHS but their parents are often private patients. In order to settle this issue a discrimination clause was added to the contracts which stated that dentists could not refuse to treat any patient on NHS for his race, age, gender, religion, social class, disability, or appearance (Marsden, 2014). However, despite these efforts of the government to overhaul the dental care, it was found out that 50 percent of the UK population still has no access to an NHS dentist (Marsden, 2014). Tony Blair had promised the citizens in 1999 that within two years everyone would have free access to the NHS dentistry but the promise was broken (Marsden, 2014). Dentists were long negotiating with the government to take back the wasted opportunity and make the dental care private only services; this would mean that the children who received free dental care were also to be treated privately. Currently the dentists treated the children for free and forced the parents to pay (Marsden, 2014). The new contracts that are prepared and imposed by the government will deal with this issue. Another major policy that was imposed by the General Dental Council was to allow the patients to get prescriptions from dentists only. There are many barriers in the UK for patients to receive treatment directly from a dentist and these barriers have still not been fully lifted. The dental hygienists and therapists were allowed to treat patients without any prescription from the dentist (Marsden, 2014). This policy had to be changed because it meant that these hygienists and therapists were allowed to treat patients beyond their scope of practice. Thus the decision of the General Dental Council imposed that the patients must be allowed access directly to the dental professional. However, the BDA had a different stand on this policy. The BDA (Manning, 2013) suggested that the dentistry is rather a multidisciplinary team which consists of several hygienists and therapists and the dentist being the leader of the team. The dental team collectively takes care of the patient’s initial diagnosis and treatment. These members of the team provide a treatment plan, coordinate with the dentist, take the responsibility for the overall patient care, and help the patient throughout their treatment journey. This policy is important as it will ensure that the children are given proper access to the dental care facilities as child dental care is the most important. However, the final policy to be imposed was that hygienists and therapists were not allowed to give prescriptions without the recommendation of the professional dentists. Children must receive direct access to the dentist and this policy will also be campaigned publicly according to the GDC (Marsden, 2014). Prevention tips by NHS: One of the most effective policies that have been adopted by the NHS for dental healthcare is the provision of prevention guidelines on their website as well as other sources that are accessible by the public (Marsden, 2014). There are many guidelines that are given and explained in detail for children dental hygiene. These guidelines are immensely effective for taking care of children’s teeth and preventing severe dental diseases (Marsden, 2014). The most effective guideline to prevent children’s teeth from decay is to start brushing the baby’s gums from an early age with a soft toothbrush (Manning, 2013). Babies develop the habit of brushing as part of their washing routine. As soon as the first milk tooth appears, the baby’s teeth must be brushed with fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride prevents tooth decay from the earliest age usually six months. Children who are under the age of three use fluoride toothpaste as toothpaste with less fluoride may not be effective in preventing decay. The child’s teeth must be brushed twice a day for two minutes each. The parents must also ensure that the child is brushing properly which involves the correct hand movement, the use of mirror to see help the child see what he is doing and where he is cleaning the teeth, making the brushing technique as much fun as possible, and not letting children run with the toothbrush in their mouth since it damages the mouth and increases the risk of choking (Manning, 2013). Other guidelines for parents are to take children to the dentist from the youngest age possible. Children must get familiar with the dentist environment and the dentist can also prevent any sorts of diseases or problems that may likely occur (Manning, 2013). Children will get comfortable with the dentist as frequent the visits are and that would be useful to identify and deal with dental problems from an early stage. The dentist visit of the child must be fun and interesting so that the child does not worry about the dentist rather enjoys it (Manning, 2013). NHS provides free dental care for children and also offers two painless preventive treatments which are fissure sealant and fluoride varnish (Manning, 2013). Consequences of not preventing children’s teeth problems: The NHS has also provided a list of problems that may cause if the child’s teeth are not protected or taken care of. The NHS provides the framework of causes of damage to the children’s teeth which are preventable (Marsden, 2014). Usually children lose their teeth as they fell down while playing or accidently bump their teeth. In such cases whether the tooth is knocked out or not, the parent must take the child to the dentist for advice. Tooth decay and dental erosion are the most common type damage to children’s teeth. Bacteria are filled up in our teeth which usually build through plaque which is a sticky layer on the teeth. These bacteria usually digest the sugar that we intake through food and drinks and make acids in our mouth which weaken the enamel of the teeth. This acid remains on the teeth and if it stays for a long time, it causes tooth decay (Marsden, 2014). This usually happens when children don’t clean their teeth properly or eat excess sugary foods and drinks. If the teeth decay in the child’s mouth is not treated immediately, it may cause severe teeth infections. Appendix II illustrates the potential dental problems that could arise as a result of improper dental care. Dental erosion is when the enamel of the teeth or the whole tooth surface is wearing away. This happens when the acid attacks the surface of teeth. This acid is the one coming from sugary drinks and at times sugar free fruit juices as well. The intake of fizzy drinks and fruit juices has become so common even in children lesser than 5 years of age. Because of this half of the children in the UK suffer dental erosion. Dental erosion also causes pain and sensitivity in teeth and if this happens, the dentist would usually treat the teeth by fillings (Hubley & Copeman, 2008). Some other severe mouth problems may also be caused to children such as mouth ulcers or mouth sores. Dental diseases or bacteria and acids in the mouth can be a reason why these diseases may be developed. Children are sensitive and their teeth are sensitive which cause them irritability whenever they suffer teeth problems. They may get cranky and feel trouble in sleeping or eating. Parents must ensure that the children are treated well before their teeth problems grow into severe mouth diseases. This is why dental care for children below 5 years of age is so important and must be considered seriously by the parents as well as by the government. Appendix III depicts dental erosion. Improvement: There are several action plans that are planned by the UK government but lack of implementation has been seen. The action plan, which was published in 2005, included huge investment to be brought to the dental healthcare in order to improve the quality of treatments and care. The investment would also be done to ensure that the goals and targets of the oral health improvement are achieved. The action plan also ensured that the primary dental care would be provided in high quality and the dental professionals are given adequate training. The NHS board has also set a monitoring program which would monitor the progress towards these goals and targets and provide reports which would be used to improve the dental healthcare (Marsden, 2014). Conclusion: However, children’s dental healthcare is an important aspect for the government because treating and preventing the teeth problems in children is essential for future preventive care. The age from 0-5 years is the most important one to identify, treat, and prevent any problems before they get severe and uncontrollable (Manning, 2013). Even if the child has no problems, the teeth must be checked and regular checkups must take place to ensure that the teeth are healthy to provide children a bright smile and healthy eating and chewing. Moreover, healthy teeth and good dental care would also help the children to develop the functioning and structure of the jaw appropriately (Marsden, 2014). Thus, the UK government must work harder towards the improvement of dental healthcare for children to prevent from severe teeth problems. References Hubley, J. & Copeman, J. 2008. Practical Health Promotion. London: Polity Manning, S. 2013. Stop the rot! Why thousands of British children are having their teeth taken out in hospital. UK: The Independent Marsden, S. 2014. NHS Dentistry is ‘unfit for purpose’, professionals warn. UK: The Telegraph Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III Read More