Fluoride Action Network

Childsmile: the national child oral health improvement programme in Scotland. Part 2: monitoring and delivery

Source: British Dental Journal, 209, 79–83. | July 24th, 2010 | By S Turner, L Brewster, J Kidd, et al.

Abstract: This paper, the second of two reviewing the Childsmile programme, describes monitoring arrangements and summarises monitoring data covering the period 2006-2009. By mid-2009, around 28,000 infants in deprived areas of the West of Scotland had been given caries risk assessments by Health Visitors; 14,000 were enrolled with 142 Childsmile practices or clinics; and over 10,000 had begun making practice visits. The Childsmile Nursery and School programmes had provided 28,000 fluoride varnish treatments to nursery and primary school children. Daily supervised toothbrushing and distribution of oral health packs covered almost 100% of nursery schools and P1 and P2 classes in primary schools in the most deprived areas of Scotland. Feedback of monitoring information to programme managers is used to identify any variation or shortfall in programme coverage and delivery.

Key Points:

  • The Childsmile programme has developed a comprehensive monitoring system for child oral health.
  • By co-ordinating the roles of health visitors, dental health support workers and dental practices, 14,000 targeted families of infant children were enrolled in the programme by 2009.
  • In the 2008/9 school year, programme staff placed 12,000 fluoride varnish applications on children’s teeth.

*Read the full article online at https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2010.629

*READ PART 1, https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2010.628

*Note from FAN:
For a further understanding of the Scottish Childsmile program, which was created because of the Scottish Executive’s decision not to fluoridate, go to http://fluoridealert.org/content/childsmile/