Top Tips for Early Years

Early-years settings are required to fulfil national curricula. Oral health activities fit well into the curricula. Settings will appreciate if you highlight this and are able to suggest fun and engaging learning activities that relate to the curriculum.

Resources

Oral Health in the Curriculum

Use creative and fun ways to engage the children in the toothbrushing activity and change them around occasionally so they don't get bored. Here are some examples of fun learning activities.

Make it fun!

Have an Oral Health Champion

Having an oral health champion can aid in cascading information and training to the rest of the staff, keeping track of supplies as well as being the established point of contact with the provider.

Keep track of your supplies. Contact your provider when more stock is needed and give them sufficient notice (at least two weeks or as agreed upon with your provider).

Toothbrushing Supplies

Communication is Key!

The local oral health team are there to support you with whatever queries or concerns you have whether that’s about following the local protocol, answering parents' questions or staffing problems that may risk the supervised toothbrushing happening every day. Please do contact your local oral health team.

Daily toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste with their peers teaches children toothbrushing skills and is another opportunity to prevent tooth decay. Families appreciate the help supervised toothbrushing at their early years setting gives them, but it is important to emphasise supervised toothbrushing does not replace home toothpaste.

Here are some examples of how you can engage families and raise awareness of supervised toothbrushing.

Promote the Scheme for Parents

Think about the families you work with. If there are language or cultural barriers to working with families, speak to the local oral health team about support they can provide. There are leaflets and forms available in different languages. Some parents may have concerns about toothpaste ingredients containing animal derivatives. Identifying these concerns and working with the local oral health team can help with improving participation rates.

Consider Language and Cultural Barriers

Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND)

Children with SEND often require additional support to participate in toothbrushing and the needs of each child will vary. It is important to involve parents and work with your Special Educational Needs and/or Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) to understand the specific needs and preferences of each child. Below are some oral health resources that can be used, and adapted accordingly, to support children and their parents/carers.

Find resources here