The Educator Magazine U.K. May-August 2026 issue. - Magazine - Page 46
Improving children’s
oral health starts
with education
By Matt Nolan, Head Dental Officer, Denplan
Teaching children to brush their teeth is
not an easy task. It sometimes comes with
tears and tantrums, and a fair amount of
creativity to make the routine stick.
From colourful toothpaste and themed
toothbrushes, to talking timers and reward
charts, we’ve come up with innovative
ways to try and make teeth brushing feel
like less of a chore for children.
Behind these small daily battles lies a
much bigger problem. In 2025, a child’s
tooth was extracted every 15 minutes in
UK - an 11% increase on 2024’s numbers.
Tooth decay for too long has been the
leading cause of hospital admissions
for young children, and decay-related
extractions cost the NHS £51.2 million in
the financial year ending 2025. Not only do
these figures reveal the number of children
harmed by poor oral care, but they also
highlight the burden that this is placing on
the economy.
What’s more, poor oral health can lead to a
number of other health conditions, and
has a knock-on effect on children’s
school attendance. What begins as a very
fixable problem can quickly
become a barrier to learning.
But the blame does not lie with parents,
teachers or children. This is a systemic
issue that can no longer be ignored.
For too long, widespread access to
dental care has not been a high-enough
government priority. Across the UK,
families face significant barriers when
trying to access routine dental
appointments. Long waiting lists, rising
costs and limited NHS capacity mean
that many children simply do not receive
the preventative care they need.
And these barriers are not felt equally.
The reality is that oral health
inequalities remain deeply entrenched,
and in many cases, they mirror broader
patterns of socioeconomic disadvantage.
Research by In Kind Direct found that 6%
of adults said someone in their household
had gone without a toothbrush in the past
six months because they couldn’t afford
one. Another report revealed that about
14% of children in the UK lack access to
basic hygiene items like toothpaste at times.
