Dental Health: Children
(asked on 23rd March 2018) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of school breakfast clubs to providing supervised tooth-brushing sessions; and if he will make a statement.
Public Health England (PHE) has made an assessment of potential interventions for improving children's oral health, which includes supervised tooth brushing. The guidance is available at:
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published public health guidance which support local authorities to invest in programmes at a population level which have demonstrated improvement in children’s dental health and recommend supervised tooth brushing programmes in nurseries.
Early Years Educator qualifications must cover the promotion of the health, safety and welfare of children. All early years’ providers have a responsibility to promote the health of children in their setting, set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, good oral health can form a part of this and this may include supervised tooth brushing sessions.
PHE worked with the Department for Education to publish in a toolkit for commissioners and providers considering a supervised tooth brushing programme in December 2016.