Province quickly reverses course on child dental cleanups

The Government of Nova Scotia quickly reversed a decision earlier this month to remove a type of dental cleaning blanket from thousands of families with young children.

On July 12, the Department of Health and Wellness sent an update to dentists saying that it was immediately removing the MSI coverage for "minor scale" for children under 15 years old.

Tartar containing harmful bacteria to the gums.

Prime Minister Stephen McNeil said Thursday that he was unaware of the update on the scale up this morning. He blamed the bureaucrats and said the decision would be reversed.

"They were trying to clarify a policy, that if you look across the country, no other place covered that too, but that's not their decision.

"What was covered yesterday, what we paid yesterday, will be paid tomorrow.

Dental Associations Directive

The reversal occurred only two days after the Nova Scotia Dental Association issued a directive to dentists telling them that the cleanings would no longer be covered.

At noon Thursday, the badociation had not been contacted by the government. Executive Director Steve Jennex.

In a message posted Wednesday on his website, the badociation called escalating "an important part of the prevention of dental disease."

"Dental plans do not always include sufficient coverage for scaling, and sometimes include no scaling up," notes the badociation in its publication.

Recommended Changes

A 2015 Report to the Minister of Health The Oral Health Advisory Group, which included the Provincial Dental Association, recommended some changes to the scaling up. He stated that scaling is not generally required for children under 10, but that the majority of children ages 10 and older need it.

The report recommends that children under 10 years of age not be covered. unit of scale each year, for an estimated total cost of $ 237,336, or about $ 30 per visit.

Using 2013-2014 figures, the advisory group calculated that 16,058 children aged 10 to 15 years were using the province's oral health program that year. According to estimates, about 12,846 of them needed to be rebadessed and about half of those children had no dental insurance.