In the UK, children in school may be taught how to brush their teeth satisfactorily.
The move is prompted by the fact that dentists in the country pull out decaying teeth of more than 1,000 children under the age of six per month!
This Public Health England (PHE) statistics also show that about 105 youngsters are admitted to hospitals each day due to tooth problems. It all adds up to 60,000 school days being missed by them each year.
Experts and health chiefs have attributed it to huge sugar consumption among children and the lack of supervision at home by parents.
The country’s health secretary, Mike Hancock, is supposed to start consultation for introducing teeth brushing lessons in school that has elicited a mixed response.
There is widespread concern for the issue – While dental experts and associations have hailed the move, teachers’ unions are concerned due to their own constraints.
The teachers’ unions do admit that it is an issue that needs an address but at the same time, they say that the teachers’ are already overburdened and this duty may further hamper their productivity.
However, the fact remains that dental services cost the NHS scheme a whopping $4.2 billion per year and children within five years made for the 14,545 tooth extractions that happened in 2017-18. And out of them, 12, 783 cases were related to tooth decay only.
Steps are also being taken by the government – There is clear proof to show that children consume three times more sugar than the five teaspoons that has been recommended by experts.
Hence, the PHE has now taken it upon itself and urged juice manufacturers to reduce their sugar content by at least five percent by 2021.
Milkshake manufacturers have also been asked to reduce the sugar content in those drinks by 20 percent. PHE says that fruit juices constitute ten percent of all sugar that is consumed by four to 18-year olds.
The government is also trying to incentivize the industry and tax others. Like, drinks that have more than 8gram per 100 ml of sugar have to pay 24 paise per liter whereas the ones that have a sugar content between five to eight grams are only taxed 18 paise per liter.
All these steps by the government can help in addressing this very vital issue pertaining to children’s dental health within the country.
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