Funding for toddlers’ oral health pilot study

Dental disease is common in children and is the most common reason for children to be admitted to hospital. Children living in the most socially deprived areas are at highest risk and the most likely to have their teeth removed under general anaesthetic. Only this month the Royal College of Surgeons recommended that parents should supervise their children brushing their teeth up to the age of 14 – way beyond the usual recommended age of seven or eight.

While the actions that can be taken to help prevent tooth decay in children – such as brushing teeth regularly, not drinking sugary drinks from bottles, not putting children to bed with a bottle and positive attitudes to oral health and visiting the dentist – are known, the best ways to support parents to carry out these actions is unknown. This is what the pilot study will seek to address.

The study is led by Professor Elizabeth Kay, foundation dean for the Peninsula Dental School, Plymouth University. She said:“Each year around 25,000 young children attend hospital to have teeth extracted under anaesthetic, even though tooth decay is largely a preventable problem, and in my view that is a national outrage. Last autumn the National Institute for Health and Care excellence published guidelines recommending that local authorities focus their oral health promotion efforts on children’s early years – I was part of the group who put together those recommendations.”