Following the Sudbury and District Board of Health's review of the first ever comprehensive dental health report for the region, the board endorsed 22 recommendations for improved dental health.
Children?s Dental Health revealed that one in four children aged three to six years in the Sudbury area has experienced dental caries or decay. The area has the lowest rate of children with decayed, extracted, filled or missing teeth compared to other northern Ontario regions.
According to the report, only 45 percent of lower income residents in Sudbury had dental insurance, compared with 72 percent of higher income residents. The report then noted that fewer low-income as compared with middle or upper-income residents visited the dentist in the past year.
?This report tells us that oral and general health share common risk factors related to income and education,? says Janet Gasparini, board of health. ?It is imperative that we address these risk factors so that we improve the overall health ? including dental health ? of the people in the areas we serve.?
The Children?s Dental Health report recommends 22 actions for improved dental health. Included in these actions is the integration of oral health programs with programs that target childhood obesity, diabetes and healthy child development.
?This report will help inform the dental community and general public about children?s dental health in Sudbury and Districts,? says Dr. Peter Wiebe, dental public health consultant with the health unit.
?It will also assist in policy and program development to ensure that appropriate prevention measures, social supports and educational resources are in place.?
Policy recommendations within this report include advocacy that the province recognize and raise awareness of common risk factors such as lack of dental insurance, low income and low education. Also included is the recommendation that a nationally comprehensive, socially inclusive dental care program for low-income workers be established.