Interactive Maps of Supervised Toothbrushing Programmes

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The BRUSH data app contains figures from our national surveys, which aimed to summarise which local authorities in England were providing supervised toothbrushing programmes (STPs), and how many children were taking part in these. These surveys were conducted in 2022 and 2024. The data are presented in a series of maps (found in the ‘Maps’ tab) which can be accessed via the drop-down menu at the top of the app (under ‘Choose variable’) for both the status of STPs in each local authority, and the number of children participating. We have also included a number of key covariates related to children’s oral health, so that the patterns found in the BRUSH survey can be compared to other potential variables of interest. The data are also available in a tabular format under the ‘Data’ tab, which contains a search bar to look up figures for specific local authorities. A summary of the sources of the data used in the app and any further notes about the data (missing data, data management) can be found in the ‘Data sources’ and ‘Notes about the data’ tabs respectively.

The data included in this app were collected at upper tier local authority level. Integrated Care Board (ICB) boundaries have also been included as an additional layer to provide an alternative perspective on the data. The maps are interactive in nature, and to explore values for individual local authorities, please switch off the ‘ICB boundaries’ layer. The tick box to turn this layer off is located in the top right-hand corner of the data app (and can be turned back on again at any time). By hovering over a specific local authority, the figures for a given variable will then be displayed. The zoom function (top left-hand corner or using a trackpad) will work whether the ICB layer has been left on or off.

 
Although only one map can be displayed at a time, opening a second version of the data app will allow for comparisons between different variables to be made at the same time.