Project:
Dental First Steps
Partner:
Public Health England
Encourage Health Visiting teams to discuss oral health with the families they support, helping them to establish effective toothbrushing routines for babies and toddlers at an early age. We have delivered many workshops across the South West region: Plymouth, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Gloucester as part of the pilot programme.
Dental First Steps is a pilot programme which we were commissioned to deliver on behalf of Public Health England.
The programme is part of the NHS England campaign ‘Dental Checks by 1’ which is endorsed by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. The ambition is to increase dental attendance rates for all 1 year old children across England, to reduce oral health inequalities and to further improve understanding and awareness of key oral health messages. Thus reducing the shocking number of children who require dental extractions under general anaesthetic.
We created an interactive and engaging workshop which is delivered by a qualified Oral Health Educator. The sessions encourage Health Visitors to update their understanding and awareness, take an active role in discussion groups to share experiences and ideas about how to share information with parents in meaningful and effective ways.
The intervention is further enhanced by toothbrushing packs, which are provided to the Health Visiting team to distribute to high-risk families. The packs contain a toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste, free flow drinking cup and information leaflet. Health Visitors are also provided with guidance which enables them to signpost and refer families to dental care and services.