School toothbrushing clubs to crack down on rising tooth decay in children

In order to make tooth brushing part of youngster’s daily routine, Barnsley Council is set to fund supervised tooth brushing clubs in schools, family hubs and other childcare settings.

Staff will be given training and equipment to set up the clubs, and encourage children to form a good tooth brushing routine from an early age.

Nationally, there has been a 17 per cent increase in the number of decay-related tooth extractions in hospital for children up to 19 years old compared to the previous financial year of 2021/22. This increase is likely to reflect the recovery of hospital services following the pandemic, health bosses said.

The Yorkshire and Humber region has some of the highest decay-related tooth extraction rates in the country, at 405 per 100,000 population of 0- to 19-year-olds. The national rate is 236 per 100,000.

On average, 119 extractions take place every working day across England, costing £40.7m a year.

Earlier this month, the government announced its dental recovery plan, in which dentists will be offered a ‘bonus’ to take on more NHS patients which will create more than 2.5 million new appointments.

A dentistry report by Healthwatch Barnsley last year found that more than 60 per cent of respondents had been unable to see an NHS dentist in the last two years, and a further 42 were unable to get any access to an NHS dentist.

Parents will be asked to give consent for their child to take part in the clubs.

Councillor Wendy Cain, cabinet spokesperson for public health and communities, said: “A healthy mouth and smile mean we can eat, speak and socialise without pain and discomfort. However, almost 30 per cent of five-year-olds in Barnsley have tooth decay. Poor oral health can lead to pain and infection, resulting in sleepless nights, difficulty eating and time off nursery or school.

“Tooth decay is preventable, and the supervised toothbrushing clubs will be effective in reducing tooth decay, by complementing toothbrushing at home.”