Who is responsible for taking care of children’s teeth?

Supposed to say enormous false teeth

Yes, we had dental nurses visiting school too, with the enough false teeth set. One of them taught me something; you should never rinse the toothpaste off your teeth after brushing. Just spit the surplus into the sink but do not rinse. You should leave the remaining paste on your teeth to strengthen them. I’ve never rinsed after brushing since then.

When I was a child the school dentist called occasionally but I never saw him as Mum took me to an NHS dentist for regular checkups. I don’t know the extent of the school dentist’s remit but there was no teaching of oral hygiene to children who didn’t see him.

Ugh, Maddyone!
It really is not part of a teacher's role to do this, and with classes of 30 plus, and cloakrooms with with only two sinks it is hopelessly impractical.
When I taught infants we had visits from dental hygienists who demonstrated with enormous false teeth the correct way of brushing, and sent home child-friendly leaflets, but the expectation was that it was the parents' responsibility. Those children will be parents, even grandparents now, so they were taught.

Germanshepherdsmum

There will only be more NHS dentists if their contracts pay at least the equivalent of private dentistry - and that’s a lot of money. When we were young private dentists were few and far between and only used by the wealthy. They have become much more accessible. Why should any dentist, after years of training, have to work for peanuts if they have another choice? Paying them more to do NHS work will inevitably see a rise in taxes. People will love that.

And this applies to doctors too, but that’s a whole other discussion.

Sorry Casdon, I thought you had omitted it. Glad we agree on the two part responsibility.

eazybee I used to have to do this as part of my job some twelve or fifteen years ago as a primary school teacher. I was teaching in Reception or Nursery classes, but the scheme was then rolled out to Years 1 + 2. I thought it unhygienic to be honest, and I also thought it was most certainly not in my job description. The children’s brushes were stored in a rack, very close to one another, and only handled, supposedly, by the child. Obviously nursery nurse named the brushes for the children before they were used. Lord knows if the children occasionally used the wrong brush. Then she placed a bit of toothpaste on a paper towel for each child and then the child had to put the paste on the brush. We tried hard to ensure no cross infection (there always a multitude of bugs doing the rounds in a Reception or Nursery class) but so many children spraying around the space as they cleaned their teeth and brushes stored so closely together, was never going to be a recipe for best hygiene practice. Thank goodness I had nursery nurse to help as I was never trained for that sort of thing. Strangely my training consisted of knowledge of the curriculum, delivery of the curriculum, learning to plan lessons and assessment. I also learnt about cognitive and emotional development, but strangely, no one ever mentioned hygiene practices for teeth cleaning in the classroom.

maddyone

I also agree with you Casdon, but you have omitted the bit about the parental responsibility. It’s a two way solution. Neither will work on its own.

I didn’t omit it maddyone, I was talking about children who already have dental decay being treated as early as possible to prevent tooth removal, that’s why I said regardless of parents’ issues.

How about a school dentist, setting a goal for children to become proficient at teeth brushing, with an incentive to do so?

Of course, there will children without the means provided to do even that, but there are always going to be those cases, for whatever reasons.

There will only be more NHS dentists if their contracts pay at least the equivalent of private dentistry - and that’s a lot of money. When we were young private dentists were few and far between and only used by the wealthy. They have become much more accessible. Why should any dentist, after years of training, have to work for peanuts if they have another choice? Paying them more to do NHS work will inevitably see a rise in taxes. People will love that.

I also agree with you Casdon, but you have omitted the bit about the parental responsibility. It’s a two way solution. Neither will work on its own.

It is good that people feel so strongly:
we as a society should step in and help these children
but, as a caring society, I believe we should protect and provide for those children who are not so fortunate.
Such paragons of virtue on Gransnet!!
Are we not to help those children whose parents might not quite live up to this
(and this just from page three.)

Obviously these are going to be the first people to volunteer to supervise tooth brushing at school, every morning, another of Starmer's ideas that teachers are expected to undertake.

Cossy

It is down to the parents to ensure good dental hygiene, however we should also have greater NHS dentists coverage across the entire country.

Yes Cossy, precisely.

Casdon

I think people are missing the point somewhat, which is that regardless of parents issues, if better preventative and treatment measure were in place, the need for dental extractions would be far less because decay would be caught sooner and treated - resulting in less general anaesthetics for children.

👏👏👏👏👏

It is down to the parents to ensure good dental hygiene, however we should also have greater NHS dentists coverage across the entire country.

Half of us wouldn't be here, if that was the case.
And grandchildren?
Well, parents cope because the grandparents are often almost bringing up those children for them, if gransnet is anything to go by.

Oh yes MissA life can certainly do that. I know only too well that lives can change in the blink of an eye.

I don’t blame you Kate. I agree, if you can’t look after them don’t have them.

I can understand why, Kate and would have had the exact same view as you, but life has pulled me up on that way of thinking.

I suppose so MissA. I am quite bitter as you can tell.

Situations change.
People who were coping can find themselves in different circumstances on the spin of a coin.

I think people are missing the point somewhat, which is that regardless of parents issues, if better preventative and treatment measure were in place, the need for dental extractions would be far less because decay would be caught sooner and treated - resulting in less general anaesthetics for children.

If you can't look after them, don't have them.

Some people can't look after themselves, let alone their children.

Thats the short and long, right and wrong of it.

So... whats to be put in place to cover the many, many, many reasons why this might be?

It's the parents responsibility to ensure that their children's teeth are properly cleaned and maintained, and to teach their children that when they are old enough, it becomes their responsibility.

Even with regular visits to a dentist, oral hygiene needs to be maintained to prevent decay.