Press Release

19^th November 2001

£270,000 to keep Argyll & Clyde Smiling
MSP for Greenock & Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, has welcomed the news that the Argyll & Clyde Health Board area is to receive £269,800 to improve NHS dental services.

The cash, which is part of a £3.8m nation-wide investment in NHS dental services, will help provide more child-friendly areas in dental surgeries, better access for disabled people and the installation of state of the art equipment.

"No one actually looks forward to going to the dentist," Mr McNeil said today. "But if we make the dentist's surgery more pleasant and accessible, more people are likely to get into the habit of visiting for regular check-ups.

"The figures show that people who visit their dentist regularly are more aware of the importance of looking after your teeth. And looking after your teeth now helps reduce serious painful, not to mention expensive, problems in later life.

"A regular trip to the dentist also helps catching serious diseases such as Oral Cancer, which kills 30 people in Argyll & Clyde every year, as early as possible.

"Spending this money now to get more people in the dentist's chair is an investment in the future."

The cash comes on top of the £500,000 made available last year to enable dentists throughout the country to purchase equipment and make improvements to their premises. It will allow dentists to establish dedicated areas to tackle many children’s fear of the dentist and encourage more children to return for regular check-ups. It will also help them to improve disabled access to practices and buy modern equipment, including new sedation machines, ultrasonic scalers and computer upgrades, to deliver a better standard of service for patients.
ENDS

Notes
The Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland was launched in August 2000 and aims to improve dental health, particularly children’s dental health, throughout Scotland. Measures already announced include:

• free toothbrushes and toothpaste to all children under 12 months and also one to three year-olds in deprived areas, funded by around £1m from the Executive’s Health Improvement Fund; and
• the establishment of a fissure sealant programme for six-eight year olds, enabling protective coatings to be placed over the first molar teeth to help prevent tooth decay. Fuller details of a revised version of this programme will be announced shortly.

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