Whole school approach to oral health

There is lots of useful advice and guidance including many videos available online which are designed to help CYP understand why it is important to brush their teeth, depending on age and stage:

• Community Dental Services provide a range of videos including 'Peppa Pig at the Dentist'
• Hey Duggee - The Tooth Brushing Badge
• Bluey and Stickbird 2 Minute Toothbrush timer with tooth brushing guide
• Brush DJ is an app which helps to make teeth brushing fun.
• Teeth Team has activities, games, videos and 'dental superheroes' for different age ranges.
• Advice for teens' teeth from the Oral Health Foundation
• 3 tips for healthy teeth from Health for Teens
• Facts around tooth decay from Health For Teens

Supervised toothbrushing programme

Some CYP may be at higher risk of poor oral health or may need to be supported to maintain good oral health. Schools and settings can provide a suitable supportive environment for CYP to take part in a supervised toothbrushing programme, teaching them to brush their teeth from a young age and encouraging support for home brushing.

• If you would like to find out more information about setting this up, contact Community Dental Services on ohp.norfolk@cds-cic.co.uk.
• Public Health England have developed a toolkit to support supervised toothbrushing programmes in schools.

Responding to concerns around an individual CYP

It is important to note that if there are persistent concerns regarding a CYP's oral health, possibly coupled with wider factors that suggest there is a safeguarding concern then you should follow your usual procedures and speak to your safeguarding lead, in line with guidance from the DfE's Keeping Children Safe in Education, who can take the appropriate next steps.

We must also be mindful of the impact of vaping or smoking on our CYP's oral health. See our guidance and further signposting around vaping  The government's plan to create a smokefree generation is something for staff to be aware of.