Peterhead School Enjoys Major Oral Health Improvements Following Dental Health Drive

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A school in Peterhead has witnessed a major turn-around in standards of oral health following a dental health drive.

There has been a decrease of 23 percent in the number of children requiring referral for dental treatment at Peterhead Central Primary. Alison Bruce, the school’s dental health worker, said that initially, language barrier was a major issue as the school has had a significant intake of children from Eastern Europe. Some sixty percent of children do not speak English as their first language and Alison has been working with parents and organisers of the Childsmile programme to provide translation services to inform parents about free NHS dental care for children in Scotland.

Thanks to Alison’s efforts and the continued implementation of Childsmile measures, 99 percent of children now brush at school and 94 percent have had fluoride varnish treatment.

The school’s success has been featured in NHS Scotland’s annual report and Alison and her team are hoping for continued success in the New Year.

Childsmile is in operation across Scotland and involves a number of measures, including supervised brushing, oral health education and preventative dental services designed to reduce the risk of dental decay in children. So far, the programme is estimated to have saved more than £5 million in children’s dental care.

Paul Gray, chief executive of NHS Scotland, said that the savings were significant and the simple measures involved in the Childsmile programme were making major differences to oral health standards and NHS spending on dental health in Scotland.

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