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Childcare initiative off and running
21st Mar 2007
Children as young as three will receive dental care
A mobile dental surgery which will visit children in schools and nurseries has just been launched in parts of Scotland. The initiative, set up by the Scottish Executive as part of the Childsmile scheme, will treat children as young as three years old and aims to tackle tooth decay amongst youngsters in the Lothians. Fluoride boosters will be offered to youngsters as well as help finding a local clinic for those not registered with a dentist. Almost a third of children in the Lothians are not signed up with a dental practice, despite a 10% rise in the number of practitioners in the past five years. The Childsmile scheme has already introduced daily supervised brushing with fluoride toothpaste in nursery schools, which has been praised for its success. Deputy health minister Lewis Macdonald said: ‘Childsmile aims to make sure that we are getting good dental care to the children who need it most. We want to establish good dental habits at an early age and prevent tooth decay and this scheme is an innovative and effective way of doing this.’ More than 12,000 children are set to benefit in the initial phase of the project. Dental staff, including hygienists and nurses, will visit nurseries and schools twice a year, using Childsmile-branded vans to transport equipment. Dr Alison McCallum, director of public health medicine with NHS Lothian, added: ‘We welcome the launch of the Childsmile oral health project, which aims to educate children and parents about the prevention of dental diseases. ‘It is important for children to be encouraged to adopt good oral health habits as early as possible.’
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