Oral health programmes

Oral health plays a huge role in our overall health and well-being.
The Healthy Smile Team provide evidence-based, up-to-date oral health training designed to strengthen the knowledge and skills of front-line staff. This training empowers professionals to confidently deliver key oral health messages as part of their routine practice.
Our programme is available to a wide range of front-line voluntary and non-voluntary staff, including health visitors, school nurses, early years practitioners, care home staff, social workers, charity organisations, community hospital staff and other relevant teams.
Oral health is everybody’s business; by including this in everyday roles, we aim to improve outcomes and reduce health inequalities across our communities.

Brilliant Brushers is our local supervised toothbrushing programme designed for children aged 3 to 5 years in targeted early years settings, including day nurseries and mainstream schools. It is also available for ages 3 and above in SEND schools. The scheme aims to reduce the risk of tooth decay by offering to settings located in the most disadvantaged communities, specifically those within Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) deciles 1 and 2.
The scheme provides comprehensive staff training and essential toothbrushing resources, enabling staff to supervise daily toothbrushing in a safe, effective, and fun way. It also promotes positive oral health behaviours by encouraging children to continue brushing their teeth at home.

• Brilliant Brushers Information Video

Brushing 4 Life is an evidence-based programme which aims to reduce the inequalities in children’s oral health with the aim of establishing an oral health routine from an early age.
The initiative involves the distribution of toothbrush and toothpaste packs to local health visiting teams, who then provide these resources to selected families during scheduled developmental reviews at 6–8 weeks, 1 year, and 2 years of age.
For more information, please speak to your local health visitor.

Care to Smile is a locally developed NHS programme designed to improve the oral health of residents in residential and nursing care homes. It is aligned with NICE guidance NG48: Oral Health for Adults in Care Homes.
A baseline audit of current practice is undertaken prior to commencement and a follow up audit is completed after implementation to measure progression.
Care to Smile goes beyond traditional training by providing care homes with tailored resources and ongoing support. This enables mouth care leads to enhance the knowledge and skills of all care staff in delivering effective oral care.
Additional guidance is offered to ensure that all mouth care assessments, care plans, and documentation meet the standards set out in the NICE guidance.
Care homes that successfully meet all programme criteria are awarded the Care to Smile award upon completion.