23,000 Hamilton kids missed dental screening over the pandemic

About 23,000 Hamilton kids missed dental screening during the pandemic that needs to be caught up this school year.

Despite COVID still taking up significant resources, public health has started to bring back more programs that were put on hold for two-and-a-half years.

Kids are a big focus of the returning programs with staggered starts from June to October.

All Hamilton grade 1 students will get dental screening this school year as well as grade eight students in schools being prioritized by public health. The screening is scheduled to start in October.

In addition, public health has 278 kids on a wait list for preventive dental care under the Healthy Smiles Ontario program. Catch-up started when clinics reopened in August.

Mental health and well-being supports are returning to schools, starting with those experiencing the most significant health effects and inequities. A ramp up of services began with the start of school.

Infant and early-years mental health initiatives are also coming back with staff training taking place from September to November.

The focus is to help address the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on toddlers and young children resulting from extremely limited opportunities for social interaction and social/emotional development," stated a report going to board of health Monday.

The report provides a status update and timeline to bring priority programs back.

A common thread throughout is recruiting during a time of unprecedented staff shortages in health care. Almost all programs are trying to fill job openings with some having particular difficulty.

Health equity is also a theme in the report - particularly learning from the pandemic, which saw major divides in vaccination rates and infection among certain groups locally and provincially. In fact, public health plans to take lessons learned from COVID to develop and implement a health equity strategy. It will also do a population health assessment with a focus on health equity.

Health equity involves reducing unnecessary, avoidable and unjust differences so that everyone has a fair opportunity to reach their fullest health potential. Inequity often involves social determinants of health such as income, social status, race, gender, education and physical environment.

One priority is getting back to supporting parents and caregivers - particularly for children aged three-and-half to six years.

Public health will also turn attention back to chronic disease prevention with a health equity component added.

In addition, initiatives for mental well-being and substance use will return.

Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com