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Over 1600 children in preschools, reception and year one classes across 23 North Somerset schools have started brushing their teeth together every day, under the supervision of a trained teacher.
Supported by the North Somerset Better Health team, At Home Dental and the Big Brush Team have found engaging ways to inspire children to brush their teeth through singing, rhymes and mascots.
They have provided training and support to ensure the schools have everything they need to be able to help the children to brush their teeth.
The council is now looking to expand this scheme to more childcare settings, starting with pre-schools in the more deprived neighbourhoods. 18 settings have been identified and the council anticipates many others will take up the scheme.
This comes as a debate in the House of Commons recently revealed that:
- At a regional level, oral health inequalities for young children are now wider than at any time during the use of this survey methodology (from 2008 onwards)
- Locally, 43.8% of children have not seen a dentist in the last 12 months (up to 30 June 2023)
- 37% of 5-year olds in North Somerset have enamel and/or dentine decay - a figure well above the national average.
The Better Health North Somerset team do amazing work to promote good oral health, but regular dentist check-ups are the oral health silver bullet.
Councillor Jenna Ho Marris, Executive Member for Homes and Health at North Somerset Council said: “It’s imperative that we work with all our partners to educate children, parents and caregivers to ensure we improve levels of oral health in this region. Schemes such as this supervised toothbrushing are vital to enabling better health for our children in North Somerset.
“We continue to promote the key health messages of brushing twice a day, reducing sugar and regularly visiting a dentist to ensure that our children get the best possible start when it comes to oral health.”