Best teeth in Scotland

FIVE-YEAR-old children in Shetland have the best teeth in Scotland, according to a nationwide inspection of NHS boards.

The national dental inspection programme found that in the 2013/14 school year the number of Shetland children starting school with tooth decay stood at 19.1 per cent – the lowest recorded across Scotland, where the average was 31.8 per cent.

The survey also found that Shetland children were more likely to have their decay treated than those elsewhere.

NHS Shetland’s dental services clinical director Ray Cross said he was “delighted to see that the daily vigilance of parents and carers in looking after their young children’s teeth, and the hard work carried out by staff, is paying dividends”.

“There is however no room for complacency,” he said, “as tooth delay is a totally preventable disease, and I would like to see the prevalence of tooth decay fall further still, whilst also balancing this with the oral health needs of the Shetland population as a whole.”

Some adults in Shetland have faced years on the waiting list before being able to register with a dentist – in the meantime only entitled to emergency appointments and not regular check-ups.

Cross acknowledged those problems have not gone away: “We still have issues regarding access for the adult population and will continue to try and address this.”