Supervised Toothbrushing Project in Wandsworth

Oral health is part of general health and wellbeing and contributes to the development of a healthy child as well as school readiness. Tooth decay is the most common oral disease affecting children in England, yet it is largely preventable.

In Wandsworth, the prevalence of tooth decay is lower than regional averages, however a significant proportion of children at a young age still experience tooth decay. Variations of the prevalence of tooth decay are seen across different ethnic groups and wards in the borough.

A pilot supervised toothbrushing pilot programme (STP) for young children attending the Borough's most deprived and deprived early years (EY) settings is being considered and will be funded by the South West London ICB Health inequalities funding already provided. Supervised toothbrushing is evidence based and considered to be a cost-effective way of promoting healthy toothbrush practices in young children and their families and preventing tooth decay, especially in those who are at highest risk.

A supervised toothbrush programme can take place in nurseries and schools in areas of greater deprivation, which will provide a supportive environment for all children to learn how to take care of their teeth and will encourage support for brushing their teeth at home. Helping to improve oral health at a population level by targeting those most at need.

The Return On Investment tool allows the clinical effectiveness data on oral health interventions to be used to estimate the potential economic benefits from several interventions, including supervised toothbrushing programmes. The tool uses the best available evidence on improving oral health in early years and school settings to estimate the reduction in tooth decay because of the intervention, the spend and the potential savings made by delivering the programme.

At five years, for every £1 spent on the programme, £3.06 is saved. At 10 years for every £1 spent, £3.66 is saved.

The potential savings include those to the NHS, for treatment costs in primary and secondary care, and the societal impact and costs, which is estimated for the child and parent/carer as days lost at school and work. To maximise the return on investment, the supervised toothbrushing pilot programme in Wandsworth will run for three years and will be targeted especially at early years settings in wards experiencing higher levels of deprivation. The programme will be quality assured and will undergo evaluation to determine if the aims and objectives were achieved.