N.B. children facing delays for essential dental surgeries

Hundreds of New Brunswick children are facing long wait times for essential dental surgery.

Hundreds of children in New Brunswick are facing significant delays for essential dental surgeries, with some waiting up to two years. This situation is prompting urgent calls for action from parents and the province’s only board-certified pediatric dental specialist.

Currently, over 300 children are on a surgical waitlist in New Brunswick, many for medically necessary procedures. Dr. Tom Raddall, the province’s sole pediatric dentist in Moncton, expressed concern about the lack of operating room time.

“It’s not great when we are not able to get the operating room time and privileges that we need to be able to treat children properly,” Dr. Raddall said.

As the only specialist in the province, Dr. Raddall handles many complex cases. He noted that other Atlantic provinces, such as Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, have multiple pediatric dentists.

For families like Dan Richard’s, the long waits mean potential travel for treatment. His daughter, Althea, would have to travel hours from Moncton to northern New Brunswick for surgery.

“We would like to be able to have our procedures done here locally in Moncton or in Fredericton or Saint John,” Richard said. “But it seems like there’s just no OR time at all.”

Richard shared the emotional toll the delay has taken on his family. Althea’s chipped front tooth, sustained in a playing accident, has affected her confidence. “She’s not smiling for pictures as much,” Richard said. “She’s said it before that, you know, she doesn’t like to smile now because of her tooth.”

New Brunswick’s Health Minister, Dr. John Dornan spoke to the media yesterday at the legislature in Fredericton, acknowledged the strain on resources for pediatric dental care. “Dental surgeries that need that space are no different than our other surgeries that need space,” he stated. “I am not aware of that particular statistics, but I am not surprised. We need to do better in all our surgical wait times.”

Dr. Raddall highlighted that the impact extends beyond pain. Children can also suffer from infections, have difficulty eating, and miss school. For families with limited financial resources, seeking treatment out of province can be a significant financial burden.

“I hope that the province might be interested in looking into alternative funding methods to get procedures covered and maybe facilities outside of hospitals,” Dr. Raddall suggested.

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