A key focus for us in Public Health for Darlington is improving Oral Health across the life course for all residents. We are developing a strategy, a work plan and have set up an Oral Health Alliance. We are working closely with the North East and North Cumbria Strategy to improve oral health and access to dental care as part of the plan.
The reason we are doing this is because the biggest reason for hospital admissions for children is Darlington is oral health and tooth decay, the most common childhood surgery is tooth extraction due to tooth decay and ¼ sometimes ½ of children aged 5 locally have visible tooth decay. This is totally preventable with good toothbrushing and oral health care.
Locally we have worked hard to establish the Supervised Toothbrushing Scheme in early years settings and primary schools. You can find out more by clicking through our videos on this page.
Brush your teeth for two minutes, twice a day — make sure one of these times is before bed.
Spit don’t rinse – once you have cleaned your teeth, don’t rinse your mouth out, allow the toothpaste to do it’s job.
Avoid too much sugar – especially things with hidden sugar that you might think are healthy.
Resources
Toothbrushing schemes in early years and school settings - Gov.uk [external link]
Dental health - Oral Health Foundation [external link]
Brushing together for health smiles - Big Brush Club [external link]
Paediatric dentistry - BSPD [external link]
Growing Healthy - 0-19 Darlington [external link]