Toothbrushing at nursery

Did you know about the upcoming changes to oral hygiene in early years?

The government is making some big changes regarding oral hygiene for children within the early years sector; by working together with Colgate and the department of education they are introducing supervised toothbrushing within settings. To deliver this the government is investing a total of £11 million in local authorities, and settings will be highly encouraged to take part. “At Colgate-Palmolive, we believe every child deserves the chance to have a healthier smile and brighter future”. Jason Wong, Chief Dental Officer for England, said: “Toothbrushing twice daily with a fluoride toothpaste remains one of the best defences against tooth decay and a long list of preventable oral health issues. This is why we’re thrilled that the government is working with the NHS to expand access to pivotal supervised toothbrushing programmes in schools”. Is your child registered under a dentist? The recommended age for your child to start seeing the dentist is by 12 months old and it is advised to not wait until their first birthday to book an appointment. Additionally, it is advised that you should be brushing your child’s teeth from the second that their first milk tooth cuts the surface. The amount of toothpaste used will also have a massive impact on your child’s oral health and children under the age of 3 years should not be using more than a ‘smear’ or the size of a grain of rice amount of toothpaste, this is important as the common misconception is the size of a pea. Using a glob of toothpaste that’s the size of a pea is strictly for children age three and above. The Colgate and NHS website has some fantastic information regarding this. https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/kids-oral-care/pediatric-guidelines-for-using-toothpaste-in-young-children https://www.nth.nhs.uk/services/dental-services-community/useful-resources/oral-health-leaflets/#:~:text=Use%20the%20right%20amount%20of%20toothpaste%201%20Kids,out%20toothpaste%2C%20do%20not%20rinse%20after%20toothbrushing.%20

If you’d like to read more on this topic please use the link to the gov website below. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supervised-toothbrushing-for-children-to-prevent-tooth-decay#full-publication-update-history

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