Brighter
Smiles at Holyrood
Member of the Scottish Parliament for
Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, has launched a bid to get fellow MSPs to
back the Greenock Telegraph’s
Brighter Smiles Campaign.
Mr McNeil has tabled a motion
at Holyrood, underlining the importance of getting children and young people
registered with a dentist as soon as possible and highlighting the success of
the Telegraph’s campaign.
Speaking to the Telegraph,
Mr McNeil said that he is now attempting to secure a debate on the motion in the
Chamber. He said:
“The poor state of our
teeth here in Greenock and Inverclyde isn’t down to a lack of dentists, it’s
down to our refusal to visit them regularly.
And, sadly, some 5,300 children are in danger of storing up all sorts of
painful problems for later life.
“There’s a lack of public
awareness about how to register your child with a dentist and moves such as the Telegraph’s
Brighter Smiles campaign are vital in getting the key information across –
especially to those who might not normally be reached by health promotion
campaigns.
“The success of this
campaign should be highlighted in Holyrood and I’m looking forward to debating
the whole issue of how we get invaluable health information out to as wide an
audience as possible.”
ENDS
The full text of Mr
McNeil’s motion reads:
*S2M-3902# Mr
Duncan McNeil: Greenock Telegraph Brighter Smiles Campaign—That
the Parliament acknowledges the importance of ensuring that children get into
the habit of regular visits to the dentist at as early an age as possible;
expresses concern that some 5,300 children and young people in Inverclyde are
not registered with a dentist; notes that this amounts to approximately
one-third of the children in the area; further notes that research by
Greenock’s Phoenix Community Health Project found that parents were unsure
about where, when and with whom to register a child, and therefore congratulates
the Greenock Telegraph for running a
very successful, high-profile campaign to get local children signed up with a
dentist and on the road to better oral health throughout their lives.
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