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Written question asked by Lord Colwyn (Conservative) on Thursday, 22 October 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 5 November 2020. It was answered by Lord Bethell (Conservative) on Thursday, 10 December 2020 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Dental Health: Children

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the provision of supervised tooth brushing programmes for children; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of those programmes on reducing oral health inequalities in children in England.

Answer

As set out in the green paper Advancing our health; Prevention in the 2020s, the Government intends to seek views on the merits of expanding the current provision to reach more children in pre-school and primary school settings in England. Water fluoridation is also clinically proven to improve oral health particularly for children. The green paper set out a commitment to reduce the barriers to expanding water fluoridation and this is being carefully considered.

There has been no recent national evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing local authority led individual schemes that promote toothbrushing. Public Health England regularly review available evidence on the effectiveness of measures to promote oral health including supervised toothbrushing. This includes evidence from schemes in England and those in other parts of the United Kingdom including the well-established scheme in Scotland.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL9466
Session
2019-21
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Children Disadvantaged Dental health
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk