Nursery World - Toothbrushing at nursery ordered

More than 120,000 nursery and school children in Scotland are to take part in daily supervised tooth-brushing programmes in a radical overhaul of Scottish dentistry services. The Scottish Executive has pledged 150m of investment over the next three years in what has been described as the biggest shake-up of the dental service since the NHS was created in 1948.

The Scottish Executive has pledged 150m of investment over the next three years in what has been described as the biggest shake-up of the dental service since the NHS was created in 1948.

Measures in the three-year reform plan include:

* Every child to have access to dental care on starting nursery by March 2008

* Distribution of free toothbrushes and toothpaste to over 120,000 children in private, voluntary and local-authority run nurseries

* Supervised daily tooth-brushing at nurseries and schools across the country

* Replacing fizzy drinks provision in all schools and nurseries with water and milk.

Scotland has a poor record for oral hygiene, and in parts of the country more than six out of ten children exhibit some form of dental disease by the age of three. The measures introduced in the new plan aim to ensure that 60 per cent of all Scotland's five-year-olds will be free of dental disease by 2010.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included