Support for oral health
Childsmile is a comprehensive programme to improve the dental health of children in Scotland, funded by the Scottish Executive, to address the Action Plan targets, which are that by 2010:
- 60 per cent of 5-year-old children (Primary 1) will have no signs of dental disease
- 60 per cent of 11/12-year-old children (Primary 7) will have no signs of dental disease in permanent teeth.
Childsmile core programme
Every child in Scotland will have free fluoride toothpaste and toothbrushes provided on at least six occasions in their first five years of life. Children who are at greater risk of dental decay are likely to be given additional supplies of free toothpaste and toothbrushes, usually via their health visitor or other health workers. In addition, every child who attends a nursery (whether private or local authority) should be offered free daily sessions of supervised tooth-brushing from age 3 upwards.
National Standards for tooth-brushing programmes in nurseries and primary schools have been agreed and disseminated widely and are now available on the Scottish Dental website.
The core programme also has a public health focus in that children who attend nurseries, childminders, after-school clubs and other similar care settings should be offered healthy snacks and drinks as part of national initiatives to improve dental health and reduce childhood obesity.
The Action Plan also outlines a range of initiatives to be undertaken in secondary schools including the following.
- Ensure that all secondary schools are offered, as part of the health promoting schools ethos, an interactive smile for health programme, promoting oral health, good eating, no smoking and prevention of sporting injuries to teeth.
- Introduce NHS Health Scotland promotional programmes aimed at increasing the number of teenagers registered and in care with dentists.
- Ensure that oral health is linked to teenage health promoting programmes, concentrating on healthy smiles and linked to smoking cessation and prevention, and self-esteem work.
- Ensure awareness of good oral health and information on accessing dental services, through the ‘Scottish Framework for Nursing in Schools’ (Scottish Executive, 2003).
