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The dental profession speaks out following the news that a national supervised toothbrushing scheme will be rolled out in early years settings across the UK.
On 7 March, the government announced that supervised toothbrushing programmes could be launched nationwide from April. It said £11 million would be invested to deliver the scheme to three- to five-year-olds in the most deprived areas. Institutions such as schools and nurseries will be able to apply to their local authority for funding to offer a supervised brushing programme.
Many dental associations have welcomed the news, but will supervised toothbrushing go far enough in improving UK children’s oral health? Several key figures in dentistry share their thoughts.
British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD)
Evidence from Scotland shows that reaching children as early as possible with supervised toothbrushing schemes gives them a better oral health start to life, and saves money for the NHS in the long term.
BSPD has been calling for targeted supervised toothbrushing in England for children for more than 10 years. The society is aware of the barriers to bringing to life supervised toothbrushing schemes, which include funding and capacity, highlighted recently in recent research published in the British Dental Journal (BDJ). Now with this significant commitment from government and industry, these barriers have been addressed and progress can start.
Urshla Devalia, BSPD media spokesperson
At last we will see the dial shift on children’s oral health in England. BSPD has been advocating for the importance of a preventative approach to address the crisis in children’s oral health for years.
Intervening now with a supervised toothbrushing scheme, plus community water fluoridation programmes are initiatives proven to deliver beneficial oral health outcomes that will pay for themselves severalfold in the future.
Children’s oral health is everyone’s business, so we are delighted to see industry partners stepping up and taking on the role they can play in reducing oral health inequalities. We are excited to see this commitment to improving children’s oral health, but there is a lot of work to do, and BSPD is rolling up its sleeves to play its part. This is the decisive action we have been pushing for.
Preetee Hylton, president of the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN)
As both a dental nurse and oral health educator, I am excited to support this vital initiative to introduce supervised toothbrushing in early years settings.
Tooth decay is one of the most preventable health issues affecting children today, and this programme provides a proactive solution to address it.
Through strong collaboration between dental professionals, educators, parents and local authorities, we can develop clear solutions, provide the necessary training, and create a united front to overcome these barriers.
No child should have to endure pain or hospital treatment for tooth decay when we have the tools to stop it. We have the opportunity to guide and support these initiatives, ensuring that every family has the tools and knowledge to build a lifetime of good oral health.
British Dental Association (BDA)
The British Dental Association has welcomed the rollout of fluoridation in the North East – alongside supervised brushing nationwide – but stressed these policies while effective have been needed for decades, and the delays they have faced reflect the lack of priority placed on oral health among successive governments and especially at the Treasury.
Both policies will deliver a very strong return on investment, paying for themselves in the short to medium term according to official modelling through reduced treatment need.
The professional body says the new government must double down, go further and faster on both restoring access to care and on prevention, particularly through mandatory action on the food industry on marketing, labelling and reformulation of sugary food and drink.
It warns that any delay to Labour’s other key manifesto pledge – to reform the failed contract fuelling the crisis in NHS dentistry – will spell the death of the service.
Rhiannon Jones, president of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT)
I was delighted to attend a meeting earlier this week to hear details of the plan and I very much look forward to seeing the results of this early preventive programme to improve the oral health of this group of children.
BSDHT’s First Smiles annual campaign has been gaining in momentum across the UK year-on-year. BSDHT dental hygienist and therapist members continue to give freely of their time and expertise and visit nursery and primary schools to teach children the importance of toothbrushing, healthy diets and regular visits to the dentist.
BSDHT has been given access to a system that enable us to post questions and comments directly to the Department of Health and Social Care. Please email president@bsdht.org.uk with any questions you would like me to put forward.
Fiona Ellwood, Society of British Dental Nurses (SBDN)
The Society of British Dental Nurses (SBDN) is delighted to see the launch of the programme that will see a reach of up to 600,000 children in the most deprived areas in England getting access to toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The Society has a strong oral health intervention and prevention focus and has presented both nationally and internationally and has very good links with the National Oral Health Promotion Group. Whilst our focus is across the life course, we strongly believe that by introducing this strategy, the government is contributing to reducing the inequalities not only in oral health but in general health, too.
This is an opportune moment for dental nurses and dental health practitioners to be able to contribute to this vision as key members of the oral health and dental wellness work. This is a time to excel, not to take a back seat, a time to be valued for the expertise that we bring to the table
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