DENTAL PLAYBOX

Description

The DENTAL PLAYBOX® PROJECT (DPB®) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year – trained Educational Facilitators visit Early Years children throughout the North West teaching them through play, appropriate to their age the importance of oral hygiene, how to look after their teeth and feel happy and secure when visiting the dentist. Each session consists of role play / correct brushing technique (with the use of stuffed toys with teeth!) / food and drink / story telling etc. Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBh761--KA8 to view the DPB video

The Dental Playbox® project aims to reduce the number of children and young people undergoing tooth extractions. After reviewing vital feedback and evaluating the project, a larger part of DPB® sessions are now dedicated to advising children how to make more healthy choices with the food and drinks they consume; empowering children to make choices which will have a positive impact on oral AND overall health.

Experts say ‘deprivation, child poverty and inequality’ strongly impact children’s health be it tooth decay or obesity and it has been found that bacteria from poor oral hygiene can travel to other parts of the body which can lead to other diseases including; Respiratory Infections / Cardiovascular Disease / Dementia / Diabetic Complications. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/dentalhealth/Pages/gum-disease-and-overall-health.aspx for more information.

New figures show a child in Greater Manchester is 60% more likely to be admitted to hospital to have rotten teeth extracted compared to the average child in England. Investment in prevention is the only way forward and could transform these children’s lives to ensure that it’s not just the well-off that benefit from good oral hygiene.

Ideally we would like to give each child at each session a brushing bag (containing toothpaste, a toothbrush, 2 minute timer, brushing chart and information for parents; unfortunately due to financial constraints we are unable to do this. Should we be lucky enough to secure funding from Aviva this is the resource we will develop; ensuring that every child seen has the right tools for the job.