NICE recommends school brushing programmes to improve standards of oral health
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended supervised brushing schemes in schools in a bid to improve standards of oral health among the nation’s children.
According to represenatives of the watchdog, schools should teach children how to brush their teeth and supervise brushing at school to try and tackle rising rates of severe cases of decay. Studies show that a quarter of five year olds have signs of dental decay, and dentists all over the country have reported an increase in the number of children requiring hospital treatment for decay.
New guidelines suggest that brushing schemes should be encouraged in nurseries, schools and children’s centres in areas where rates of decay are high. At the moment, dental decay is the most common reason young children are admitted to hospital.
The latest statistics show that a quarter of children have “obvious signs of decay”; the average five-year-old has more than three decayed, filled or missing teeth.
NICE’s deputy executive, Gillian Leng, said that good oral hygiene reduces the risk of dental cavities significantly, and partnerships between schools and local authorities could help to prevent some children from developing decay. Supervised brushing schemes ensure that children brush their teeth frequently, and aid children who perhaps don’t have the support or encouragement at home. In the past, NICE stated that many parents thought tooth brushing was “trivial”, and this means that children grow up not thinking that it’s important to brush their teeth. Education at school can help to plug gaps and provide children with the knowledge they need to make positive choices in the future.
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