TOWER HAMLETS ORAL HEALTH STATUS: EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS: Institute of Dentistry Child Oral Health in Tower Hamlets Romana Alli Ahmer Imtiaz Rebekah Hadley WHAT IS ORAL HEALTH? ‘’a standard of the oral and related tissues which enables an individual to eat, speak and socialise without disease, pain, discomfort or embarrassment.’’ WHO Definition TOWER HAMLETS ORAL HEALTH STATUS: Access: 46.9% in 2006. Rise to 50.4% - Average in England is 69.4% 2013: 17.3% Age 3 with tooth decay; 13.6% in London and 11.7% England 3 year old children with early childhood caries was 9.1% compared to 5.3% for London and 3.9% for England In 2013/14 dental extraction was among the highest cause of hospital admissions for children in London. In Tower Hamlets 469 children were admitted to hospital for dental extractions with 56% in the 5-9 year age group FIVE YEAR PLAN Continual oral hygiene training to front line staff – follow the oral health toolkit Dental visits to schools – send out dental students and dentists to schools Maintain programmes such as Brushing for Life programme and Healthy Teeth in Schools Improving access – ensuring special care services are advertised and known about e.g. GP informing patients about availability Use of common risk factor approach – healthy meals at schools, removal of vending machines, increasing education about healthy eating EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS: Brush 2 x day with fluoride toothpaste Applying fluoride varnishes at least 2 x per year Encourage the use of fluoride mouthwash Organise regular supervised use of fluoride mouth rinses for children with special needs or at high risk of dental caries Support home visits that provide new mothers with advice about breastfeeding and weaning Ensure that where appropriate dentists cover the molar teeth of children with a resin - based sealant Implement policies which reduce sugar consumption in children as they may be helpful in preventing tooth decay CURRENT PROGRAMMES: Brushing for Life programme - targeting health professionals working with children aged under 5 Healthy Teeth in Schools - a fluoride varnish programme for 3 to 6-year-old children, providing dental prevention intervention and access to primary care services for those with urgent treatment needs Promoting oral health in faith and cultural groups and organisations Promoting oral health in schools Developing a paediatric care pathway in conjunction with Queen Mary and NHS England to increase uptake of services Training to front line staff Out of hours urgent dental care Special care facilities Source: National Dental Epidemiology Programme for England: oral health survey of five-year-old children 2015 REFERENCES: 1) Public Health England (2014). Oral health survey of 3 year old children 2013 (http://www.nwph.net/dentalhealth/reports/DPHEP%20for%20England%20OH%20Survey%203yr%202013%20Report.pdf 2) Public Health England(2014) Delivering Better Oral Health-an evidence based toolkit for prevention 3) Marinho VC, Worthington HV, Walsh T, Clarkson JE. Fluoride varnishes for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Jul 11;7:CD002279 doi:0.1002/14651858.CD002279.pub2