An oral health programme is one third of the way to achieving its target to reach 90,000 UK school children with oral health education sessions.
Targeting schools, nurseries and clubs for low income families, Brightbites is an oral health education programme delivered in person by volunteers. It uses resources such as toothbrushing charts, stickers and leaflets to inform children on oral health and hygiene.
The sessions additionally provide parent and carer resources designed to complement the curriculum. Each child also receives a free toothbrush and toothpaste.
Dentaid CEO Andy Evans said: ‘Brightbites is really picking up pace and is being delivered to more children at risk of social exclusion than ever before.
‘We’ve had fantastic feedback from the schools and venues we visit including an email from a school in Yorkshire who told us many of their children previously had very little knowledge about oral health and were facing hygiene poverty so they’d been hoping for a programme like Brightbites for years.
‘It’s also wonderful to see so many dental professionals and teams from across the industry along with Simplyhealth and Denplan colleagues gifting their time to deliver Brightbites and help instil good brushing habits and a knowledge of oral health from an early age.’
‘A significant milestone’
In December 2023, Denplan partnered with Dentaid the Dental Charity to expand Brightbites with an aim of reaching a minimum of 90,000 children across the country. The dental plan provider donated £195,000 to help achieve this aim.
Charlotte Cooke is ESG lead at Denplan and Simplyhealth. She said: ‘Reaching 30,000 children, many of whom experience health inequalities and social deprivation, marks a significant milestone for our Brightbites programme.
‘We’re incredibly proud of how we’re using our business as a force for good, the positive impact we’re having and our success so far, but we need more volunteers to help us on our mission to deliver oral health education to at least 90,000 children.
‘We would also like to invite more education settings to register to host a Brightbites session, so we can support the oral health of the next generation.’
The partnership is seeking more volunteers to deliver Brightbites sessions – more information is available at www.denplan.co.uk/patients/brightbites. No dental expertise is needed as full training and resources are provided.
Early oral health education ‘critically important’
In October, a survey found that only 45% of parents had taken or planned to take their child to the dentist before the age of three. One in five of the parents surveyed (21%) said their children brushed less than twice per day or not at all.
The participants welcomed further advice and education around oral healthcare. Around 86% said that good habits should be taught in childhood, with 37% believing the government should implement oral health education in schools. Half (49%) also supported supervised toothbrushing schemes.
Andy Evans said: ‘Every day we see the impact of poor dental health at our charity dental clinics and the effect this has on our patients’ confidence, prospects and wellbeing.
‘We know that instilling knowledge about the importance of dental health from an early age is critically important.’
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