MEDICAL staff could be sent to Essex schools to improve children's dental health.

It is hoped dental care professionals will identify those children who need to see a dentist before the problem gets any worse.

Mid and South Essex ICB, which is rolling out the scheme, is at pains to say that tooth decay leading to early teeth extraction in children is entirely preventable.

The campaign is particularly important in mid and south Essex where data shows areas of high need.

They say they are seeing increasingly more children experiencing significant levels of tooth decay with children aged 10 years and under having teeth removed under general anaesthetic.

They add children need their baby teeth to fall out naturally, so the adult teeth underneath can develop properly and come through without any issues.

The programme to send healthcare professionals into schools in some way mirrors the now defunct school dental service where children would have their teeth inspected and parents of anyone requiring further treatment would be asked to make a follow-up appointment.

David Barter deputy director of primary care commissioning for Mid and South Essex ICB told a health scrutiny committee on July 16: "Many years ago those school visits were ceased and there is an argument on both sides about benefit or non-benefits of that particular system.

"As ICBs, we are working up pilots for children and young people which makes the dental practice at the heart of services.

"And there will be an outreach in Mid and South Essex into schools for dental care professionals to go into schools and signpost.

"The key to it is getting families and children into dental practices. for the children to receive the treatment they need and we know that treatment needs have risen post-pandemic because of access to dentistry and children's teeth decay very quickly.

"Dental disease is almost entirely preventable but it needs good oral hygiene in that child's life.

"The key is not only to go schools which we will start to pilot hopefully in Mid and South Essex quite soon but to signpost families into dental practices.

"And the key is to have access in those dental practices where children can be seen at a very young age – as soon as the teeth start to appear."

The programme comes after as a part of National Smile Month, NHS Mid and South Essex launched in May a new children's oral health campaign called Bright Smiles are Healthy Smiles!

It is part of a longer-term campaign that will raise awareness of how to embed good oral health habits in children.

Mr Barter added: "There is a dental need and a dental want. Many of the orally healthy population have dental wants and they go to the dentist.

"What we don't know is the need, because there is a huge need among patients who just don't take their children to the dentists.

"By getting dental care professionals lining into schools they ll be able to see the need and the schools will be able to work with parents and carers to hopefully get them into practices.

"We are trying to take that approach rather than work up a huge needs assessment and then try to do something about it.

"We are hitting it from the other side which is providing the access and learning through the access.

"Because they are pilots we can tweak them and add more provision where we think it is needed."