Labour promises free dental check-ups if elected

Dental Tribune UK

Thu. 21. November 2019

save

LONDON, UK: The UK general election is just weeks away, scheduled to be held on 12 December. In recognition of the oral health inequalities that exist within the nation, the Labour Party has announced that, if elected, it will abolish charges for all dental check-ups in England.

The plan will cost an estimated £450 million per year, according to analysis conducted by the British Dental Association (BDA), and includes routine oral cancer screening as part of each check-up. A routine dental check-up with an NHS-registered dentist currently costs £22.70 in England. If this cost is eliminated, more English residents will be encouraged to visit the dentist, according to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

“Over half of adults and 40% of children haven’t been to the dentist in the last year,” Corbyn stated in a press release.

“If you don’t go to the dentist for check-ups, you end up storing up problems in the long term. Over 100,000 are admitted to hospital every year because of problems with their teeth,” he continued.

“This is the first step towards making all dentistry services free of charge—part of our ambition to deliver free dentistry as part of a truly universally free health service,” Corbyn added.

The BDA was vocal in its support for Labour’s proposal and pointed to the fact that free dental check-ups have existed in Scotland since 2006. As a result, 66.6% of adults in Scotland attend an NHS dentist at least once every two years, a figure that drops to 50.2% in England.

“When you give patients a reason to avoid check-ups, they bottle up problems and pile huge pressure across our NHS,” said Dr Mick Armstrong, Chair of the BDA’s Principal Executive Committee.

“Sadly, prevention is impossible when families on moderate incomes need to think twice about seeking care. Dentists are health professionals, not tax collectors. These charges are designed to discourage attendance, while providing cover for government cuts,” continued Armstrong.

“However any plans to boost access must go hand in hand with support for a service facing serious recruitment problems. NHS dentistry cannot be delivered without NHS dentists,” he concluded.

Tags:

To post a reply please login or register

New Zealand children miss annual dental check-ups

MANAWATŪ, New Zealand: Frequent dental check-ups are important to maintain good oral health. However, in the Manawatū district on the North Island of New ...

Japanese researchers explore whether workplace dental check-ups reduce absenteeism for dental care

TOKYO, Japan: Oral disease contributes significantly to absenteeism globally, constituting between 9.06% and 26.7% of total illness-related absenteeism. The...

German report shows the frequency of dental check-ups has increased

BERLIN, Germany: In a new study, researchers from the Robert Koch Institut (RKI) have examined, among other subjects, the prevalence, determinants and ...

Children are not getting dental check-ups early enough, FDI survey shows

GENEVA, Switzerland: Maintaining a healthy mouth is crucial to keeping it functioning correctly and to maintaining general health and well-being. Ahead of ...

New study looks at factors that influence willingness to attend dental check-ups

OKAYAMA, Japan: According to the Pan American Health Organization, nine out of ten people are at risk for any type of oral disease, which can be mitigated ...

Dental labour mobility still difficult in ASEAN countries

CEBU CITY, Philippines: Aiming to facilitate dental workforce mobility among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a mutual ...

3D-printing start-up promises 100-fold reduction in print times

BOULDER, US: After raising an astounding US$1.3 million (€1.24 million) in a seed funding round, Vitro3D will take its place as a commercial rival in ...

Morita elected president of idm

LEIPZIG: The international dental manufacturers association has choosen Haruo Morita from the Japanese Dental Trade Association (JDTA) as president-elect ...

Dentistry scrapes through third‑quarter check-up

LEIPZIG, Germany: The cascading effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have hobbled global pandemic recovery. Third-quarter reports from the largest ...

BDA representatives elected to serve in FDI World Dental Federation

LONDON, UK: Two of the leading members of the British Dental Association (BDA) have been elected to serve in the FDI World Dental Federation at this ...

Education

Live webinar
Fri. 26 April 2024
12:00 pm EST (New York)