Robin Mills, a specialist in paediatric dentistry and former BSPD President, has used NHS Digital figures to produce a map which shows that the children in the north of England are faring better when it comes to dental access. The map also shows that the Starting Well campaign is delivering on the commitment to improve children’s oral health.
Robin Mills’ map reflects dental access according to postcode areas. He has highlighted the 13 areas where the Starting Well programme was introduced to tackle poor dental attendance and poor oral health. His work shows there has been an overall improvement in the rankings of the 13 Starting Well postcode areas, indicating that the Department of Health initiative is working. The Dental Check by One (DCby1) campaign, which aims to get children seeing a dentist as their first teeth come through, was launched by BSPD in partnership with the CDO in 2017. Dental Check by One is integral to Starting Well which is now available as a core programme to all local authorities.
The NHS England figures analysed by Robin Mills are for March 2018 to March 2019 and so are only early signs at this stage. However, Robin believes the figures are promising. He commented, “It’s very clear that of 13 Starting Well Local Authorities, 12 were in the top 50 per cent while seven were in the top 25 per cent and none were in the lowest 25 per cent. This is an initiative which appears to be having an impact.”
“What we are also seeing is a North-South divide with more children seeing an NHS dentist in the North West and North East than in the South and even the Starting Well initiatives appear better in the North.”