This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Extracting the fear factor
27/11/2003
A new dental playbox that aims to make a trip to the dentist a less daunting experience was launched today.
The playbox, created by leading healthcare charity Action for Sick Children Scotland (ASC), is an innovative way of encouraging children to become familiar with dental equipment and procedures to take away the fear factor at an early age through play.
It contains a dentist uniform, nurse uniform, set of theatre greens, play-doh Dr Drill and Fill, playmobil dental surgery, large puppet, teeth and toothbrush, set of chattering teeth, human biology box kit, four jigsaws, books, real equipment including gloves, surgical masks and dentist's bibs and leaflets.
It will be made available to all New Community and Health Promoting Schools in Scotland.
At St Mary's primary school in Edinburgh, Deputy Health Minister Tom McCabe said:
"Dental health is poor in Scotland compared with other European countries. Children's dental health in particular is not something we can smile about. Going to the dentist regularly from an early age can help identify and treat problems and prevent future disease.
"One of the barriers of going to the dentist, particularly for children, can be the fear factor. The dental playbox will give children reassurances, confidence and trust when visiting the dentist. Through play, it encourages children to become familiar with dental equipment and procedures with an aim to reduce the fear factor.
" The playbox programme complements and supports the main preventive themes of personal and parental dental care by encouraging tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste from a young age and reducing or avoiding the excessive use of sugary foods and drinks - the main cause of dental decay. It will help encourage children to go for regular check-ups that can help avoid problems in later life."
The Minister continued:
"Last year we published Towards Better OralHealth in Children for consultation to get views on how we can accelerate progress in improving children's oral health. We have received a number of responses to the consultation and hope to publish our decisions shortly.
"We have also set put plans to address the recruitment and retention issues in dentistry and to deliver a high quality NHS dental service which delivers the needs of patients, the aspirations of the dental profession and makes a substantial impact on improving the health of the people of Scotland.
Mr McCabe concluded:
"No single approach will on its own bring about the progress we want. A range of measures is necessary if we want to see real and lasting improvements in our children's and Scotland's teeth."
ASC Scotland is affiliated to Action for Sick Children, a leading UK children's healthcare charity formed to ensure that sick children get the highest standard of care.
The Dental Playbox, produced in partnership with Boots PLC, will be made available to all New Community and Health Promoting Schools in Scotland. It contains a dentist uniform, nurse uniform, set of theatre greens, play-doh Dr Drill and Fill, playmobil dental surgery, large puppet, teeth and toothbrush, set of chattering teeth, human biology box kit, four jigsaws, books, real equipment including gloves, surgical masks and dentist's bibs and leaflets.