Early years and school settings across Knowsley have taken part in the All Together Smiling programme – a 3-year evidence-based supervised toothbrushing programme for 2 to 7 year olds that commenced in April 2024.
The programme is funded by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside and Knowsley Council, and hosted by Beyond, the children and young people’s transformation programme who work closely with Public Health oral health leads across all nine local authority areas.
The programme delivers a structured supervised toothbrushing intervention within eligible early years settings and primary schools, alongside the targeted provision of free oral health packs (containing a toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste, and oral health key message leaflet for families).
The programme also delivers communication campaigns to help raise awareness of the importance of oral health and share key messages.
In Knowsley, 49 early years childcare settings took part in the programme, helping the programme to be very successful across the borough. Over 2,000 children have engaged in the supervised toothbrushing programme, helping to instil good oral health at a young age.
St Annes Catholic Primary School in Huyton features in one of a series of new short films which have been created about the programme, promoting the benefits of peer modelling with toothbrushing. The video can be viewed here.
The intended outcomes are improved lifelong oral health habits, reduction in tooth decay amongst 5-year-olds, and fewer tooth extractions due to decay.
These outcomes will, in the long term, address health inequalities and reduce the demand for dental and urgent services locally.
Children under the age of 7 should:
- Brush twice a day
- Use family fluoride toothpaste (1450ppm) – under 3 years, a smear amount of toothpaste and for 3 years plus, a pea-size amount of toothpaste
- Spit don’t rinse after toothbrushing
- Be supervised by an adult while they brush their teeth
Cllr Christine Bannon, Cabinet Member for Health, said “I’m delighted with the success of the programme here in Knowsley and it’s really important that good oral hygiene is encouraged from a young age. Through this engaging programme, we know that children’s interest in brushing their teeth has increased and what they are learning in the early years or school setting is being replicated at home.”
For more information on the All Together Smiling programme, email alltogethersmiling@alderhey.nhs.uk.