According to a company running programmes to educate families about dental health, the five-year-olds in Milton Keynes are improving their teeth dramatically; Central and North West London’s Oral Health Improvement Team started programmes such as ‘Smile Aware’ and ‘Healthy Early Years Award’ which aim to encourage families to help their kids look after their teeth properly.
The team are thought to have helped almost two thousand families access facilities required to improve education in this area, with 143 oral health sessions being delivered to families across Milton Keynes.
According to statistics, the tooth decay rate in five-year-olds has dropped from 25% in 2012 to 21.5%, which manager Lucie Daleki says is down to families improving their diet and helping children to ‘love their teeth.’ She called the results of the study ‘fantastic’ and said that the team were ‘pleased’ to have been part of the solution to high decay rates within this age group.
As well as encouraging good oral hygiene, the programmes focussed on ‘tooth friendly’ food and drink, and also reducing the use of bottles and dummies with young children. Additionally, the team also runs a fluoride varnish programme that has helped 254 children in the last year alone.