Oral health needs assessment

Friday 6 December 2019 5.24pm

We have recently published a new oral health needs assessment for Herefordshire which can be viewed, or downloaded, from the oral health page of this website.

The oral health needs assessment describes the standard of oral health of people living in Herefordshire and provides an overview of current local oral health care services.

It highlights that the standard of children’s oral health in Herefordshire is poor, and is poorer than both the regional and national picture. For example, just under a third of five year olds locally experienced preventable tooth decay in 2016/2017, a figure which has remained broadly unchanged for the last 10 years.

Areas of good practice for preventing and addressing poor oral health in children and adults are evident across Herefordshire. Despite this, local challenges clearly exist in ensuring everyone has equitable access to dental care and preventative interventions for improving oral health.

To address these identified local issues and gaps, the needs assessment proposes 10 key recommendations, each of which have been informed by national policy and guidance. It is envisaged that future action and activity for improving oral health will be led by Herefordshire Council’s Public Health Team and undertaken in collaboration with key local and regional organisations e.g. Healthwatch Herefordshire and Public Health England.