Initiative eats into Cant'y children’s cavities

** Please note this is a new release with updated figures to replace the release sent 30/3/09.

Media release, 31 March 2009

Local health care initiative eats into Canterbury children’s cavities

A pioneering dental care programme has seen Canterbury buck the trend of soaring national rates of cavities in children.

A report just released by the Canterbury District Health Board’s Community Dental Service shows there has been a sustained and substantial improvement in the oral health of Canterbury five-year-olds. Since 2000, the number of cavity-free children is up by 14 percentage points (from 50 percent in 2000 to 64 percent in 2008), and the mean number of children with decayed, missing or filled teeth has fallen by 24 percent.

The encouraging figures can be attributed to a joint project launched by Pegasus Health family practices and CDHB’s Community Dental Service in 2000, aimed at promoting dental hygiene and awareness of the signs of tooth decay.

The initiative saw Pegasus doctors and practice nurses enrolling 15-month-old children into dental services at the time of their 15-month immunisation and Well Child check. An educational ‘Lift the Lip’ booklet also provided general practice teams with the resource to help identify early signs of tooth decay and refer children at risk into oral health services.

The programme has provided vital access to preschoolers for enrolment in dental services. In the year 2000, 12,081 Canterbury pre-schoolers were enrolled, climbing to 19,516 at the end of 2008, representing 84 percent of all one to four-year-olds in the district.

This access to children through general practice has been pivotal to the success of the programme, says Norma Heese, Practice Nurse at Barrington Medical Centre, who has been involved in the project since its inception.

“It has provided the opportunity to enrol children in dental services at an early age, so any decay is picked up promptly.”

The initiative was a New Zealand first when launched nine years ago, and has since been adopted by other health care providers around the country.

Pegasus Health Director of Nursing Shelley Frost says the programme clearly demonstrates the positive health outcomes achieved by a collaborative approach delivered through general practice.

“These statistics clearly highlight a significant improvement in the oral health of Canterbury children.”

ENDS

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