The local health unit is looking to expand its elementary school fluoride varnish program using surplus money from last year.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health currently administers fluoride varnish two times a year to all students at seven schools throughout the Upper Grand District School Board, including Mapleton’s Centre Peel Public School and Mount Forest’s Victoria Cross Public School.
Medical officer of health Dr. Nicola Mercer explained these seven schools were chosen because more than 14% of students screened during public health’s regular screening had two or more visible cavities.
Centre Peel Public School in Mapleton was the pilot school and the number of students with obvious cavities has fallen from 30% to just 5% since the program began in 2007.
However, when the new Healthy Smiles provincial funding program was rolled out earlier this year the fluoride varnish program was no longer included because it is not widespread throughout the province.
“We re-jigged and we tried to take the money from the child health budget which is where we can because there is some cross-over there,” Mercer told the board on Nov. 2.
“We’re going to keep doing those seven schools.”
Now Mercer is suggesting the addition of five “high-risk” schools. They were not named but there is one in Wellington County, two in Guelph and two in Dufferin County.
“They’re all across the territory, these five schools, and just a casual look at the numbers here, those five schools would account for over 2,000 children that are at schools where the amount of obvious caries is greater than 14% – and some of those are quite a bit higher, so we would like to apply the fluoride paint program,” Mercer said.
However, the cost to include those five schools in the fluoride varnish program is $16,751 per year, according to the board report.
“I think that funding and moving ahead with fluoride varnish for children really makes a huge difference in their oral health,” Mercer said.
However, she added she wanted to keep the public health budget at a two per cent increase for municipalities in 2017.
“I also would like … this board to consider at the finance committee that we are probably going to have a very small positive variance at the end of this year,” Mercer explained.
“We’re estimating [$40,000 to $50,000] of positive variance and if the board wishes to expand the fluoride varnish program, at least to the five high-risk schools and to other children in the community, to try to decrease the incidence of oral caries, that we use the surplus from this year to fund next year’s program.”
It would give the five additional schools one year of funding at least.
Mercer said it’s important to continue the program because some of the teeth public health sees with caries in Grade 2 students are permanent teeth.
“When it comes to children, especially from poorer families, trying to get a job when you’re older if you have a mouth full of carious teeth or missing teeth – you know it really sets them on a really bad trajectory,” Mercer said.
Board member Margaret Abbink asked whether parents ever object to the fluoride varnish application.
Mercer said public health currently has a positive consent process where parents have to say “yes” to the varnish.
However, the health unit is considering a move to negative consent, where parents have to expressly say they don’t want the varnish applied.
“We’re screening, we’re going in and we’re opening children’s mouths and we’re looking in so the process would be if you don’t want us to apply fluoride paint to your children’s teeth then you can opt out,” Mercer explained.
“So that is something that we’re going to consider and look at.”
The program is equally important because it doesn’t single any one student out.
“So all the children get up and all the children have their teeth looked at … and every child has the opportunity to have fluoride paint put on their teeth whether they’re rich or poor,” Mercer said.
“Now unfortunately … (the varnish) has to be applied twice during the school year, but it absolutely works.”
Mercer also said she’s talking to other heath units to see if it’s possible to do a group order, reduce costs and get more vials for more treatments.
The board agreed to consider the surplus funding model at the finance committee level.
