Parents to be offered tooth brushing advice as part of £200m dental care plan
Joe Lepper
Thursday, February 8, 2024
The government is to roll out a programme offering advice to parents on the importance of regular tooth brushing for children, as part of its plans to improve the UK’s crisis-hit dental care system.
The Smile for Life programme features guidance for parents for how they can ensure their children take care of their baby gums and milk teeth.
The aim, according to NHS England, is to ensure that “every child will see tooth brushing as a normal part of their day”.
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“Good oral hygiene and daily toothbrushing are vital to give every child a great smile for life,” said primary care minister Andrea Leadsom.
“This plan will ensure that healthy teeth and gums are available to everyone.”
The government’s wider plan to improve dental care is backed by £200m in funding and includes offering NHS dentists a new patient payment of between £15 and £50.
In addition, 240 dentists are to be offered a one-off payment of £20,000 to work to work in areas of greatest need for up to three years.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak said that the measures will “deliver millions more NHS dental appointments and provide easier and faster access to care for people right across the country”.
But British Dental Association principal executive committee chair Eddie Crouch said that it is “quite astounding” that the government is suggesting funding for the plan is new money amid long term funding cuts for dental care.
Meanwhile, Labour MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant said that the government’s plan is “a temporary filling” and that an end to delays in renegotiating dentists’ NHS contract is needed to bring meaningful improvement.
Last month the Labour Party announced plans to bring in toothbrushing training, for three- to five-year-olds, should it be elected at the next general election. This would take place at free breakfast clubs it wants to introduce for all primary school children.
According to latest official figures almost a quarter of five-year-olds have experienced tooth decay as families struggle to find an NHS dentist. NHS data found two in five children did not see an NHS dentist in 2023.
Dental Wellness Trust founder Dr Linda Greenwall said that currently Britain is blighted by a “major tooth decay crisis affecting thousands of young children”.
