STOCKHOLM, Sweden: The Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has announced plans to monitor the dental health of children and adolescents more closely in the future. According to a recent press release, the government has commissioned the National Board of Health and Welfare to submit proposals on how children’s oral health data could be collected and included into the nation’s dental health registry by 31 March 2017.
“Children’s and young people’s dental health have to be monitored in the same way as adults’. With this assignment, we hope to enable this. It is a small but important part of creating the best conditions possible for good and equitable oral health care in children and young people,” health minister Gabriel Wikström commented on the assignment.
According to National Board member Dr Andreas Cederlund, the current regulation makes it impossible to collect and monitor dental health in children and adolescents in the country. “We have long been asking for the option to include children in the registry to follow their dental health and provide opportunities for research,” he remarked.
The Swedish dental health registry collects information about patients’ oral health and dental visits, among other things. The data is used for statistical analysis, quality assurance, evaluation and research.
In August 2015, an official government report on means of improving dental care had already indicated that there is insufficient knowledge regarding children’s and young people’s oral health in Sweden. Without comprehensive data, no follow-up research on the group’s dental health can be undertaken and therefore no national guidelines for child and youth dental care can be implemented, the report stated.
The National Board will now carry out the assignment in collaboration with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and the Swedish Data Protection Authority.