We’re establishing a new school’s programme to give young residents access to oral health education and assessment in school. Developing healthy habits early in life will help to prevent tooth decay, support their overall wellbeing, and get them off to the best possible start in life.
We are commissioning local dental practices to provide free oral health mouth checks to reception and year three pupils in schools across mid and south Essex. Dental care professionals will use a visual screening method to check the child’s mouth for early childhood caries or cavities. Following this, parents or carers will receive a letter to confirm if a further dental appointment is recommended. The school will have a dental practice assigned to it, meaning that children will have direct access to this practice for a dental appointment if they do not already have a regular dentist.
Participating dental practices will also hold open days to provide children and their families with an opportunity to visit the practice for further education and to help address dental phobias.
The programme will also have positive impacts on dental provision by allocating payment to dental practices to provide preventive services, rather than just treatment, The programme will also include training opportunities for dental nurses develop enhanced skills.