Oral health plan aims to tackle tooth decay in children
New figures show just over 4 in 10 children in Wales have tooth decay. The figures come as the Welsh Government launched a new campaign to try and tackle the issue, as David Wood reports.
Oral health plan launched
The Welsh Government is launching its new 5 year National Oral Health Plan.
Oral plan hopes to improve 'health inequalities'
The National Oral Health Plan looks to the future and outlines an agenda for improving oral health, reducing oral health inequalities in Wales over the next five years and beyond.
Prevention is at the core of the Plan. This is one of our major goals, together with the need to raise awareness of people's responsibility in taking care of their own oral health.
– David Thomas, Wales' Chief Dental OfficerTo achieve the aims of the Plan and have modern NHS dental services that continue to deliver high quality care, change is required. The skills, experience and dedication of the dental workforce will remain a vital resource upon which we will need to draw to drive forward the necessary changes. Patients, the dental profession, health boards, and the Welsh Government, all have an important role to play in making this happen.
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New oral health plan launched across Wales
Wales' Chief Dental Officer will today launch the Welsh Government's new 5-year National Oral Health Plan.
It outlines the agenda for improving oral health inequalities across Wales.
It comes as new figures from the Welsh Oral Health Information Unit show that just over 41% of children in Wales currently experience dental decay.
Wales' Chief Dental Officer, David Thomas, says that whilst the figure is too high, it does mark a decrease of 6% since 2007/8.