Schools’ dental programme: Failings say a lot about us

One of the indulgences we embrace is how quickly we take the novel for granted. Grandparents shopping for Christmas presents for their grandchildren this week will remember a time when a radio in a car was regarded as sinfully hedonistic. Equally, those grandchildren have come to regard Netflix as a human right and the communications network that supports it as, well, ordinary.

Those grandparents will remember another symbol from our past. They will remember misaligned, cavity-riddled teeth. They will remember when a child could not expect dental intervention unless they could pay for it. The introduction of school dental programmes, where children were assessed and offered treatment if it was needed, ended that unfairness.

Sadly, and unacceptably, the school dental programme is struggling to meet its objectives. Thousands of schoolchildren miss out on check-ups, others are trapped on long waiting lists, and the service is undermined by staff shortages and funding issues. In one instance fourth class pupils have not been examined for five years, in another there are 120 children on a two-year waiting list for treatment.

It’s another indictment of how we structure affairs that, at a time when a car radio was cutting-edge, we could provide a better school dental service. The demands on our health budget are almost endless but this scheme should, if run properly, save money. Why can’t we fix it?