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Sarah Teather and Brent Liberal DemocratsWorking Hard for Brent |
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Soaring Hospital Admissions For Tooth Extractions In Brent - Teather
March 13, 2009 2:00 PM
Local MP Sarah Teather takes a keen interest in local healthcare
Brent's local Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has revealed new figures showing a huge rise in the number of people in Brent being admitted to hospital to have decayed and diseased teeth removed.
In the last year there has been a huge 79% leap in the number of under five year olds in Brent having one or more teeth removed under general anaesthetic, a much more serious medical procedure than a local anaesthetic through an injection. Amongst all Brent age groups there has been a 13% increase in tooth extractions
People are often worried about seeing their dentist and will put off dealing with dental problems until it is already too late to avoid surgery. Health campaigners have also claimed that we are seeing the consequences of the government's botched dental contract, with dentists opting out of the NHS and fewer people seeing an NHS dentist.
The Liberal Democrats would reform NHS dental contracts so that they encourage dentists back into the NHS, and provide incentives to dentists to carry out preventive work and see those patients in greatest need, such as children.
Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:
"It is extremely worrying that more and more local people are ending up hospitalised because of serious dental problems that should have been caught earlier. For young children in particular the trauma of having decayed teeth removed is extremely upsetting.
"Lots of people put off going to the dentist for as long as possible, because they may not be able to afford it or may simply be scared. We need to take seriously the reasons why people avoid the dentist, and do far more to encourage people to have regular check ups.
"It simply isn't good enough to leave people soldiering on with a painful tooth infection just because they aren't willing to go to see the dentist."
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