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UK Against Fluoridation

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Young teeth to get a fluoride varnish

Young teeth to get a fluoride varnish
8:29am Tuesday 21st October 2008By Claire Lomax »
Pre-school children living in areas of high deprivation with poor levels of oral health are to take part in a new fluoride varnish scheme in a bid to cut tooth decay.
The pilot project, by Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust (tPCT), will see two to four-year-olds in the Barkerend area of Bradford and Keighley have a fluoride varnish applied to their teeth every six months for two years.
Tracey Holdsworth, oral health improvement officer, said: “The oral health of young children in Bradford and Airedale is poor compared to neighbouring areas and nationally, with more than half of children having experienced dental disease.
“It’s really important to help children get into good habits from an early age, and fluoride varnish is a useful addition to the many different ways they can look after their teeth.
“Just one quick application – together with regular tooth brushing, healthy eating and drinking habits, and dental check-ups – can help protect children’s teeth for up to six months.
“It is extra protection against tooth decay which we hope will make a real difference to the oral health of children under five.”
Over the past few months, the tPCT’s oral health promotion team has run awareness sessions about the fluoride varnish programme at Barkerend Children’s Centre and the Rainbow Centre, Keighley, for parents and carers, who must give their consent for their children to be involved.
Fluoride varnish schemes already run in other parts of the country and Scotland and have proven to be safe and effective in reducing dental decay, a spokesman for the tPCT added.
It will see staff from the trust’s salaried dental service visit the children’s centres to apply the varnish, which is a layer of sticky gel, which then sets and the fluoride is absorbed into the enamel.
The tPCT plans to eventually roll out the scheme to children’s centres and nurseries across the district so that all pre-school children can benefit from fluoride varnish.
e-mail: claire.lomax@telegraphandargus.co.uk

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