Whole school approach to oral health

General resources

• Colgate provides a range of educational resources including songs, raps and poems, activities including word matching and certificates.
• Community Dental Services shares several activities including dental snakes and ladders games and crosswords.
• The Oral Health Foundation provides fun activities in the 'puzzles and games' section.

Early Years

• Early Years activities should include dentist role play, practising tooth brushing on dolls and toys, brushing model teeth and stories / discussion.

Primary school

By the end of primary school, children and young people (CYP) should know:

• Health education:
  • What constitutes a healthy diet (including understanding calories and other nutritional content)
  • The characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating (including, for example, obesity and tooth decay) and other behaviours (e.g. the impact of alcohol on diet or health)
  • About dental health and the benefits of good oral hygiene and dental flossing, including regular check-ups at the dentist

High quality resources about oral health - Primary

• Colgate has several resources, including a story to download called 'This Is My Bright Smile Emergent Reader' where early readers can learn about basic oral health.
• The Oral Health Foundation provides lesson plans and resources for Early Years' Education to KS2.
• Public Health England's (PHE) School Zone has several resources, including:
  • A PowerPoint presentation that uses a simple science experiment for KS1 and KS2 to introduce the idea of how sugary drinks can affect teeth.
  • An interactive and engaging presentation that teaches KS1 pupils how to choose healthier snacks. 
  • A KS1 Food Detectives Toolkit which includes a lesson plan, extension activities and a homework task.
• These resources from Wiltshire Healthy Schools include dental health workbooks for Years 1-6.
• The Aquafresh Schools Club helps children to learn about the importance of oral health through engaging resources and a creative writing competition!

Secondary school

By the end of secondary school, CYP should know:

• Health education:
  • How to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks, including tooth decay and cancer
  • About dental health and the benefits of good oral hygiene and dental flossing, including healthy eating and regular check-ups at the dentist

High quality resources about oral health - Secondary

• BRIGHT dental health lesson plan (PSHE Association) aims to develop students' understanding and knowledge about the importance of tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste as a method to prevent dental caries.