New Oral Health Campaign Launched In Wales

Tue, 18 Mar 2008

Youngsters aged between four and six in Wales are set to be targeted by a new programme aimed at stemming ‘unacceptable' rates of dental decay in the country.

The ‘Designed to Smile’ campaign will see toddlers receive free toothbrushes and be taught the rights and wrongs of teeth cleaning in schools . Older children aged six to eleven will also be given advice on teeth cleaning, it was confirmed.

Health Minister Edwina Hart will launch the scheme in Merthyr Tydfil, with north Wales and large parts of south east Wales being targeted first in pilot projects.

"Rates of tooth decay in Wales are unacceptable for what is almost a totally preventable disease," said Ms Hart. "We intend to work towards every child being provided with free toothbrushes and fluoride toothpaste ."

"Some of our children have some of the worst teeth in Europe . We need to reverse the trend if we are to meet our dental health and child poverty targets."

Ms Hart said a total of £4.6million is being put into the tooth-brushing schemes in a bid to help provide children with the tools they need to develop and maintain good oral health from an early age.

She added that patient charges for dental treatment will be frozen for the second year running to help maintain wider access to NHS dental services .
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

Health cover, life insurance and PMIProtect Your Health

Find Critical illness, Life and Private Medical Insurance PMI policies.

Save money on your mortgageSave on Your Mortgage

Would you like to save money on your mortgage? Fill out our quick mortgage enquiry form