Welsh parents in need of more guidance on the health of their children’s teeth

22 February 2012

The National Assembly for Wales’s Children and Young People Committee is recommending that the Welsh Government provides more support for parents to ensure they understand the important role they have to play in keeping their children’s teeth healthy.

A significant number of school children are affected by dental decay, with disease levels being highest in deprived areas, and Committee Members found that a more consistent message needed to be provided about the importance of getting fluoride onto children’s teeth as part of their daily tooth-care regime.

The recommendation is one of ten to come out of the Committee’s inquiry into children’s oral health which looked at the effectiveness of the Welsh Government’s Designed to Smile programme in improving the oral health of children in Wales, particularly in deprived areas.

Designed to Smile, which was launched on 30 January 2009, is the Welsh Government’s national child oral health improvement programme. The programme consists of three elements: a supervised tooth brushing scheme for 3-5 year olds; a promotional programme for 6-11 year olds; and a preventative programme from birth to 3 years old.

In launching the report at Jenner Park Primary School, in Barry, on Wednesday 22 February, Committee Chair Christine Chapman AM, said that levels of dental decay amongst children in Wales was unacceptably high.

“Although preventable, dental decay is still the most common childhood disease, and the dental health of children in Wales is among the worst in the UK,” said Mrs Chapman.

“A significant number of school children are affected by dental decay, with disease levels being highest in deprived areas.

“The evidence so far suggests there has been a good uptake of the Designed to Smile scheme.

“However, the scheme appears to fall down slightly when it comes to the homebrushing element, and that’s why one of our main recommendations is to provide more information to parents about the importance of good oral health.”

The report also recommends that:

• The Welsh Government should set out how it intends to improve the oral health of all children in Wales, including those who are not currently targeted by Designed to Smile, and what role the Community Dental Service will play in this;

• The Welsh Government should consider the evidence for incorporating Designed to Smile into the school curriculum to ensure it is better integrated into initiatives such as Healthy Schools;

• The Welsh Government should make changes to the NHS dental contract to enable better integration of prevention and treatment across dental practices and to ensure it encourages dentists to undertake preventative work with children.