If you’ve got sore and bleeding gums, you may not be aware that there is a potential link to disease in other parts of their body.
Many have felt the impact from the lack of availability of dental treatment during these past 12 months or so, finding it difficult to get emergency dental appointments and routine oral care has also been disrupted with wait times getting longer and longer.
Neil Carmichael, chair of the Association of Dental Groups wrote “Ever since the first national lockdown in March, many people have been ignoring minor symptoms such as toothache or bleeding gums and allowing them to get worse. Others have been performing dangerous ‘DIY dentistry’. At the same time, restrictions have meant that the numbers of patients dentists can physically help in any given day has fallen dramatically”
The December report projected that around 8 million people would be waiting for NHS dental treatment last Christmas, but unable to access a dentist to perform it.
The findings point to an unprecedented proportion of people being unable to access an NHS dentist at any one time – 8 million people represents around 14% of the English population, or around one in seven people.
The fear among dentists is that record numbers of mouth cancer cases are going undiagnosed while more than a million fillings may have been missed last year.
It is reassuring to know that dental practices in the UK are guided in the treatments they can deliver by official advice from the Government and Chief Dental Officers and details can be found here on the NHS website.
In addition to the document covering the overall strategy for Dental Treatment delivery and care during the COVID pandemic there are regular updates on how dental practices need to adapt to new information and guidelines as they become available. The latest publication available is to cover the period from 01 January – 31 March 2021.
Please don’t ignore what your gums could be telling you, talk to your your dentist’s receptionist about your concerns if you experience bleeding.
If you are interested in finding out more about a personal discounted private dental scheme through Eduhealth, we have options for private dental plans and also cash back plans for payments made for NHS treatment, please contact us on 0345 226 9938 or find out more here.
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