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Every year, children in Primary 1 and Primary 7 in Scotland have the opportunity to receive an inspection of their teeth in their school. This is done as part of Scotland’s National Dental Inspection Programme by trained, experienced inspection teams. All team members are employed by the NHS Board. High standards of hygiene are followed and no X-rays are taken. The inspection is not a check-up like at the dentist but can identify some dental issues so that these can be followed up with your normal dentist.
The inspection involves looking in the mouth with a small mirror and a light. Your child will be sent home with a letter to let you know how the inspection went and some advice on what steps to take next. If your child is registered with an NHS dentist, the NHS Board may also tell the dentist about the findings. If your child is not registered with an NHS dentist, the Public Dental Service in the NHS Board may offer you help in finding a dentist for your child.
The findings are shared with Public Health Scotland. This is in order that the dental inspection information can be used to help with the planning and delivery of NHS dental services across Scotland. Sometimes the information will be used to carry out research. The inspection information is anonymised for these other purposes where at all possible.
Information from your child’s dental inspection will be held by the NHS Board and by and Public Health Scotland. The NHS will make sure that your child’s information is stored safely, stays private and is only accessed by authorised people. This is in compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018. All NHS staff have a legal and contractual duty to keep personal health information secure and confidential. All staff have mandatory training in Data Protection and IT Security.
If you do not want your child to have their inspection, you should write to the school within a week of receiving the letter informing you of their upcoming inspection.