The jigsaw of care essential to tackle dental neglect

Her comment was made on BBC Breakfast where she was interviewed about a paper published today in the British Dental Journal. The paper is based on a retrospective audit of 27 children treated for severe dental infection at King’s College Hospital between 2015 and 2017.  More than half of the children were between five and eight years old and eleven of the 27 were already known to social services.

The authors recommend that children needing treatment for a severe infection should have their case discussed with the local safeguarding team and possibly referred to social services.

Claire said that as soon as there were welfare concerns about a child, a phone call would be made at her hospital to the safeguarding team. She said, “Dentistry needs to be part of a bigger picture which shares information. We are trained to work with all other healthcare professionals.”

“If I have a child who comes in to see me and I have concerns about them I will talk to the GP, I will talk to the health visitor and I will talk to the school nurse. It’s about sharing information.”