Norfolk reinforces toothbrushing habits during summer holidays
Families encouraged to maintain oral health routines at home
Norfolk County Council is ensuring the importance of oral hygiene remains a priority for young children and their families during the summer holidays.
During term time, the council run a ' supervised toothbrushing project', part of a national programme established 18 months ago.
It targets children between the ages of three and five in early years settings, particularly in areas of high deprivation.
Officials at the council say that initiative has demonstrated success in reducing tooth decay among participating children.
Anne-Louise Schofield, Norfolk County Council's public health principal responsible for children's public health, says she is encouraging parents and carers to maintain this practise at home, during the summer holidays:
"I think it's really important that effective tooth brushing is embedded every day. I'm absolutely aware that sometimes routines change during the summer holidays,
it's possibly about parents being really aware of that,
If you're not getting your children up to go to nursery or school at the same time, it might be that we just need to have a little think about how they're fully embedding that tooth brushing."
With children receiving oral health packs at school to encourage discussion within the household, the project aims to instil good brushing habits early on, impacting their oral health into adulthood.
The initiative currently engages about 32 settings across Norfolk, with an emphasis on those in areas of higher deprivation.
Anne-Louise says encouraging these habits will help tackle tooth decay:
"We know that around 1 in 5 children in England have experienced tooth decay, but we also know that 1 in 3 in our more deprived areas have tooth decay, and Norfolk is no different.
"We know that tooth decay is a problem for children in our county," Anne-Louise said.
The council strongly believe that embedding tooth brushing within daily routines and doing so from a very early age, helps embed that structure for life.