The Nova Scotia Dental Association (NSDA) is deeply concerned with the current state of the Children’s Oral Health Program (COHP) in the province.
After five decades of a provincially-funded children’s dental program, dentists believe they should be seeing a much better status of pediatric oral health across Nova Scotia.
“Having good health and good oral health are not mutually exclusive,” said Dr. Erin Hennessy, President of the NSDA. Hennessy notes that 36 per cent of children in Nova Scotia have cavities by the age of 6 and between 28-31 per cent of all day surgery time across the province is used for the treatment of dental disease.
“As health care providers, we believe that we, as a province, can do better for our children,” said Dr. Hennessy. “Dentists from across the province are urging the government to review the program. We want to work with them to ensure it has a measurable and meaningful impact on those who need it most.”
In late September, the NSDA launched its Children’s Oral Health Campaign, with the goal of amending the COHP to better support young Nova Scotians. In its current state, the COHP offers some basic dental services and limited preventative care to all children up to age 15. The limited program budget has become so diluted, it can no longer provide sufficient care to the children who need it most.
“We’re not looking for additional funding, but we do believe the limited funds available for this program could be used more effectively,” said Dr. Hennessy. “We can do better for our kids. We need to do better.”
For more information and to show your support for changes to the COHP, please visit:https://somethingtosmileabout.ca/.
About the Nova Scotia Dental Association
The Nova Scotia Dental Association (NSDA) is a member-based organization serving the needs of more than 500 dentist members across the province. As a not-for-profit organization, the NSDA has been the voice for dentistry in Nova Scotia since 1891. The Association is directed by its Governing Council of 15 dentists, who determine the NSDA’s focus and scope of activities and programming.
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Source: Media Release