Treeline Dental has launched Little Smiles Open Days focusing on children’s oral health and reducing preventable decay.
The shocking truth, according to the latest NHS England figures for year ending 2024, revealed that tooth decay remains the most common reason for hospital admissions in children aged between five and nine years. One of the main reasons why this is particularly shocking is that in the main, tooth decay is a preventable disease. This is just one of the reasons why the Treeline Dental Care group are launching their Little Smiles Open Days.
Covering the diverse community of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, the priority for this growing dental group is to target the most vulnerable children. The NHSE data also revealed that the decay-related tooth extraction episode rate for children and young people living in the most deprived communities was nearly 3.5 times that of those living in the most affluent communities.
Treeline’s Little Smiles Open Days will be run every half term, starting this February. Dr Jimmey Palahey, Treeline’s co-founder and CEO is determined to put the emphasis on fun, to encourage engagement from the local community as well as build team morale. Treeline’s practice teams will dress in special children’s scrubs which will include favourite children’s characters, such as Minty the Dinosaur and then in December, the staff will be dressing up as the Christmas Grinch.
Tackling phobia through dental open days
The team will spend time educating children about preventative oral health, from how to brush their teeth – including how much toothpaste to use and that the ideal brushing time is two minutes. They will teach them to brush twice a day – with at least one of those times being before bedtime and that after brushing they should ‘spit, don’t rinse’ – as well as talking them through which food and drinks are the most tooth-friendly.
Tackling children’s dental phobias is a key aim. Jimmey believes that setting children up on the lifelong journey to good oral health is important, so normalising the dental surgery environment and showing how relaxed and friendly the dental team is – are key messages. Treeline’s staff will be using role-play and encouraging children to check their parents’ teeth which are all techniques to help prevent dental phobias setting in.
Dr Jimmey Palahey, CEO of Treeline Dental Care, said: ‘I am a strong believer in the power of a preventative approach. We know that if we can reach children when they are young, we can teach them that looking after teeth and going to the dentist are normal habits for life. We need a turnaround on the unacceptable levels of tooth decay in children. I am so glad to have the support of our fantastic Treeline team – and our local community.
‘While we don’t have formal data yet, patient feedback has been very positive. I am also pleased that Treeline will be allowing team members with extended qualifications, such as oral health education, valuable time for them to educate children and as a result prevent caries.‘
This article is sponsored by Treeline Dental.
