A public health programme which supports children in Early Years settings in disadvantaged areas to look after their teeth, has awarded eight nurseries in Oxfordshire their Healthy Smiles certificate.

Community Dental Services CIC awards the certificates for promoting positive oral health messages to children, employees and parents, reducing the frequency of sugary foods and drinks given to children, introducing supervised toothbrushing and increasing visits to the dentist.

Charlotte Iddon, Oral Health Improvement Practitioner and Oxfordshire manager, said: “Results from the 2019 National Oral Health Survey of five-year-olds showed that in England 23.4 per cent of children had experienced tooth decay and in Oxfordshire, it was as high as 28 per cent."