Horden Nursery

Oral Health

Tooth decay is the most common oral disease affecting children and young people in England, yet it is largely preventable.

Poor oral health can affect children and young people’s ability to sleep, eat, speak, play and socialise with other children. Other impacts include pain, infections, poor diet, and impaired nutrition and growth.

Oral health is an integral part of overall health. When children are not healthy, this affects their ability to learn, thrive and develop.

Supervised Toothbrushing Programme

During their time at nursery, children are supported to clean their teeth. Our staff have received training from the Oral Health Team from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and follow Infection Control Guidance. We talk to children about the importance of brushing their teeth, and share information books, stories and rhymes to support their learning.

We promote safe snacks, which support good oral health. These include-

  • Breads- bread, toast, plain bagels, pitta bread, buns, bread sticks, cheese scones
  • Cheese
  • Fruit/Vegetables- a wide variety
  • Milk or water to drink

Our Top Tips for good Oral Health

  1. Reduce your childs consumption of foods and drinks that contain sugars- keep sugar containing foods and drinks to mealtimes only
  2. Swap sugary drinks for milk or water
  3. Brush teeth twice daily with flouride toothpaste (1350 – 1500ppm), last thing at night and at least on one other occasion. After brushing, spit don’t rinse!
  4. Take your child to the dentist when the first tooth erupts, at about 6 months and then on a regular basis.
  5. Brush or supervise tooth brushing until your child is at least 7 years old

How much toothpaste?

  • Under 3’s should use a smear of toothpaste
  • 3 – 6 year olds should use a pea sized amount

For more information on Oral Health, please click on the leaflets below:

Is your child due to visit the Dentist? Here are some recommended books.

Books-about-brushing-teeth (Download)