This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Public Health Programme Officer, Tim Howells, for the attention of Primary Schools in Slough.
The National Oral Health Survey released in May shows 41.5% of the five year olds in Slough have decayed teeth. (The highest in the South East). For huge numbers of these children this means that they will need a general anaesthetic to have these teeth removed often resulting in the children suffering with pain and sleepless nights and days off school which can have a huge impact on their achievement in school.
We would like to say a huge thank you to the staff that have invited Slough Healthy Smiles in to your schools to raise awareness of oral health, we have visited schools for
- Teaching sessions for the children
- Assemblies for children and for parents
- Parents in school sessions
- Parents evenings
- We are able to offer oral health training for staff and
- We can work with you to accredit your school as a school that promotes oral health.
If you would like us to visit your school to help improve oral health for your children please email oral.health@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk and we would love to arrange to visit your school and work with you to improve oral health in your school.
Finally, as it’s coming up to the end of the school year, I would ask if you are doing any communication or newsletters to parents, that you could add the following:
The key messages to help children have the best oral health they can are:
- Brush teeth last thing at night and at one other time in the day with a fluoride toothpaste,
- Reduce consumption of sugary foods and drinks,
- Visit the dentist regularly.
In the summer children can consume huge amounts of sweet drinks which cause oral health issues along with other health issues such as diabetes and obesity, the campaign GULP, Give Up Loving Pop is working to help families encourage their children to drink milk and water.
Thanks very much, have a great Summer break!