BSPD Gives Thumbs Up to Labour's Supervised Toothbrushing Plan
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- Published: Tuesday, 17 October 2023 09:32
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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Dental professionals have warmly welcomed Labour Party proposals to introduce ‘supervised toothbrushing’ into schools and nurseries in the 20% most deprived areas of the country where tooth decay is at its most prevalent amongst young children.
Labour’s plans would also see three, four and five year olds given toothbrushes and toothpaste to take home as part of a wider package that will see NHS dentistry receive an additional £111M of funding.
The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (‘BSPD’) has welcomed the plans which it has been campaigning for, for over ten years. In 2014 NICE too issued guidelines that recommended supervised toothbrushing in areas of deprivation.
BSPD says there is evidence from Scotland, that reaching children as early as possible with supervised toothbrushing schemes gives them a better oral health start to life and is thus more cost effective in the long term for the NHS.
Professor Claire Stevens CBE, BSPD Spokesperson said “This is a serious plan to grip both the immediate crisis and set NHS dentistry on the path to recovery in the long-term.
“BSPD believes that every child should have a ‘dental home’ – an ongoing and preventively focused relationship with an NHS dentist. However, with children’s dental services in crisis we urgently need to put a blanket of support around the most vulnerable children in our society.
“We must recognise that, through no fault of their own, some children need greater help to get the oral health start in life that every child deserves”.
Professor Paula Waterhouse, BSPD President was also enthusiastic: “Children and young people from lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to experience dental decay and more likely to report that their poor oral health impacts on their daily lives.
These children can suffer pain, lose sleep and miss days at school. Dental disease is almost always preventable. To see that this plan is costed and can be funded is a relief. This approach, that is based on targeting the most deprived 20% of children, is a step towards an oral health approach that is equitable - not just equal.”
The enthusiasm of the dental profession is not, however, universal, and predictably there are voices of discontent in the teaching profession whose own travails viz funding and staff recruitment and retention have similarities with dentistry.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “This week we have seen guidance on mobile phones from government and a new dentistry duty from the opposition.”
Dismissing the proposals as ‘window dressing’ Mr Whiteman added “We have serious reservations about how such a policy could even work. It is not the role of teachers to be making sure children brush their teeth each day.
“Schools already play a role in teaching children about the importance of looking after their teeth through the curriculum, but there has to be a limit in terms of what we can expect them to do.”
Image credit - Anderson Mancini under CC licence - not modified.
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