Patients With Dental Abscesses on the Rise

Bristol University researchers have revealed that the number of hospital admissions in the UK for dental abscesses has almost doubled in the last eight years.

The study has sparked concern as there is also an acute shortage of dentists in the NHS. The study also suggested that much of the problem had to do with the new contracts that saw dentists take on more private work over a pay row.

Consequently the number of dental patients registering on the NHS fell from 23 million to 17 million from 1994 to 2004.

"Most serious dental infections are preventable with regular dental care. Indeed, this is the rationale for regular dental check-ups," said lead researcher Steven Thomas. care. Indeed, this is the rationale for regular dental check-ups. "Changes in service provision could, therefore, have resulted in reduced provision of routine dental care and access to emergency dental care."

The study is published in the British Medical Journal.

Source: Medindia
RAS/L