Children’s Dental Passport

A Children’s Dental Passport

There can be no more valuable gift to a newly born baby than a guaranteed schedule of dental care linked with a comprehensive “Teeth for life” philosophy.  This is why Dentsure is currently developing a Dental Passport system to help parents and dentists support children from birth to adulthood.

It is an imperative that a newly born baby is introduced as soon as possible by a parent to a “Teeth for life” concept whereby newly erupted teeth are protected from the ever-present threat of dental decay with effective oral hygiene measures. Regular inspections and professional dental examinations recorded in a Dental Passport are the crucial ingredients of maintaining dental fitness from birth. The early warning signs of poor nutrition leading to an unwelcome acid attack on the precious enamel coating of the teeth as they erupt need to be identified and addressed immediately. Three monthly examinations recorded from the age of six months are an imperative.

The mental trauma arising from toothache and the necessary emergency treatment at a very young age is an enduring lifetime burden. More children today are faced with a traumatic hospital visit for tooth extractions under general anesthesia than ever before. It is time to reverse this unwelcome trend with a Dental Passport for Children. A healthcare dividend would soon be delivered with less obesity, a lower incidence of Diabetes and the dangers of Oral Cancer associated with alcohol consumption and smoking being fully understood.

Read more in this Faculty Dental Journal Article 

Further Evidence

Tooth decay is largely preventable, but it is still a serious problem of pandemic proportions among young children worldwide. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities oral health survey of 5 year old children 2022* and the Public Health England Oral Health Survey of 3 year old children 2020 found that:

  • nearly a quarter of 5 year olds in England have tooth decay, affecting 3 to 4 teeth on average
  • children from more deprived backgrounds are more likely to have tooth decay
  • 11% of 3 year olds in England have visible tooth decay, affecting 3 teeth on average
  • The high incidence of hospital admissions for the extraction of children’s teeth in hospital under general anaesthesia is a significant cost upon NHS funds

The personal child health record, also known as the Red Book, has been handed out to new parents for the past 30 years.

Despite advice being included on the importance of dental examinations from the earliest age, no NHS contract exists in the UK to guarantee access to free preventive dental care for children. Many attempts to remedy this omission at a local level including the most recent recorded in Wiltshire in 1995, have been rejected by successive Governments.

In 2005 the Conservative Party Manifesto included plans for the introduction of an NHS Children’s Passport :-

https://manifesto.deryn.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Conservatives-manifesto-uk-2005-1.pdf

These plans were promoted by Dr Andrew Murrison the Conservative Opposition Health Minister.

In 2016 the Royal College of Surgeons Dental Journal published the concept of introducing a Children’s Dental Passport https://www.dentsure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/kids_passport_fdj.pdf

Soon afterwards the concept was adopted in Croatia in 2017/2018 and comprehensive evidence of this government sponsored project is published in detail  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7362737/

The general health benefits delivered by a Children’s Dental Passport remain indisputable. By digitising the process from birth a completely new dimension of a dynamic picture being available to the NHS that records individual and national dental fitness levels from birth.

The children’s dental data recorded by the health services in Denmark and Croatia prove the priceless advantages of preventive dental care being available from a very early age.

The record of any effective dental services for children is a serious black hole in the history of the NHS. The Bloomfield Dental  Review of December 1992 identified a number of solutions and in particular the trialling of Local Dental Health Trusts. Plans were laid by the Wiltshire Health Authority in early 1995 to create a Local Primary Dental Care Trust**.Read Letter 1 AHA1 Read Letter 2 AHA2,

Dr Nigel Knott

BDS (Hons) U London LDS RCS (Eng.)

11 April 2024

*National Dental Epidemiological Survey(2022)

**Letters 16 November 1995/24 June 1996′