Sowerby Bridge school uses charity to tackle pupils' toothache

A school has brought in a dental charity to treat pupils with such bad toothache they have missed lessons.

Staff at Trinity Academy Grammar in West Yorkshire have had to take pupils to hospital as they were in agony but unable to access an NHS dentist.

One pupil, Jenna, 13, said she used to fall asleep in class because her tooth pain had kept her awake at night.

The Department for Health said an extra £50m funding had been given to NHS dental services for more appointments.

Charlie Johnson, headteacher of the school in Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, said as well as being forced to take days off, some students had been left in tears during lessons due to toothache.

They sometimes had to be taken out of class to get pain relief, he said.

After becoming concerned, Mr Johnson said he had contacted public health officials who said there was a shortage of local NHS dentists taking on patients.

The school was put in touch with Dentaid, a UK charity which normally provided dental treatment to people in developing countries who cannot access it, or to vulnerable people such as the homeless.

As a result, a mobile clinic was brought to the school and volunteer dentists found around one in 10 of its 300 pupils needed treatment for conditions such as decay, cracked teeth and abscesses.

When Jenna was examined, she was found to have an abscess which had been giving her so much pain she was unable to focus on her lessons.

The Year 9 pupil said: "It affected my learning because there was a constant pain and I couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was saying."

Another student, Caine, who needed a tooth removing, said his parents could not get him in to see an NHS dentist.

The 15-year-old said: "We went to one in Elland and they said I needed an extraction or a cap in my tooth, but because it wasn't NHS I'd have to pay £50.

"My mum and dad couldn't afford it, so I didn't get it done."

Mr Johnson said he knew he had to act after looking inside the mouth of one distressed student and seeing a significant amount of decay.

"We've had to take students to the hospital because tooth decay has been that bad," he said.

"That has not only taken them out of lessons, but it's taken our staff away from the school building to care for them."

Sarah Hutchins, Dentaid practice manager, said it was the first time the charity's staff had been asked to come in and run such a project in a school.

"We've seen a lot of children with a lot of holes in their teeth and who needed teeth removed. Once we've stabilised that, it will be a question of keeping on top of it," she said.

The school said it was "frustrating" it had been forced to step in to provide dental treatment, but added that parents often found it "impossible" to access help.

Kelly Green, Trinity Academy's development manager, said: "There are students who have been referred on for multiple extractions and quite complex treatment, so it's clear they will have been in severe pain.

"I think in those circumstances, the dentists were surprised they were actually able to keep coming into school."

The British Dental Association said the fact that Trinity Academy had been forced to call on a charity for help illustrated that NHS dentistry was on its "last legs".

The association warned that the government "must pick up the pace on the reform".

Chairman Eddie Crouch said: "We salute these volunteers, but this isn't the Victorian era.

"A wealthy 21st Century nation shouldn't be relying on charities to provide basic healthcare to our children."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the £50m funding boost would allow up to 350,000 extra dental appointments to be provided.

"That's on top of our unprecedented support for NHS dentists during the pandemic, including protecting the incomes of dental practices which couldn't deliver all their usual services and tackling the Covid backlog," the spokesperson added.