In a New Year message to members BDA Chair, Eddie Crouch has called on dentists to share their experiences of the new lockdown with the MPs and ‘help us make a compelling case to government.’ He also asked dentists to write to their MPs calling for an end to the new UDA targets and an end to official ambiguity over ‘key worker’ status.
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Promotions on food and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) in retailers will be restricted from April 2022, the government has confirmed. Although this has been introduced as a measure to cut childhood obesity, it should also have some effect on the high incidence of dental caries, which is still the most common reason for hospital admissions in the 6-10 age group.
Read more: Promotions of unhealthy foods restricted from April 2022
In its latest briefing Healthwatch, the patients’ watchdog, has shared what over 1,300 people have told them about their experience of NHS dentistry during July and September 2020. They report a ‘significant increase’ in the number of people telling them about the problems they face when trying to get an NHS dentist appointment.
Read more: Healthwatch finds a ‘significant increase’ in people unable to access NHS dentistry
The Chief Dental Officer for England, Sara Hurley, has written to dentists to say that dental services are to remain open and see patients, during the period of new restrictions. Meanwhile Dave Cottam, chair of GDPC, has written to Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, asking him to abandon the 45% activity targets, with immediate effect.
Six dentists appear in the 2021 New Year Honours list which names hundreds of people for their work in the Covid pandemic. They are Professor Barbara Chadwick, Kenneth Macdonald, Satyesh Parmar, Heather Pope and Asha Thomson. All were appointed MBE, with a BEM for David Scrafton.
The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD), the organisation committed to improving the oral health of children in the UK, is calling for more co-ordinated steps to tackle both dental decay and obesity to stop thousands of children growing up to face a lifetime of disadvantage. The BSPD wants to see clearer food labelling and further sugar reduction in food and drinks frequently consumed by children.
Read more: Dental caries and obesity must be tackled together, says BSPD