Written Answers - Department of Health and Social Care: Dental Health: Children (5 Nov 2019)

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care

The Government’s Green Paper, Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published in July, commits to consulting next year on options for rolling out a national school toothbrushing scheme in more pre-school settings and primary schools in England. These proposals will aim to reach the most deprived 3-5 year olds in all areas of the country and will look to reach 30% by 2022.

The Green Paper consultation included a question on the role that water companies can play in supporting water fluoridation initiatives. The consultation closed on 14 October and we are currently analysing responses. In addition, we will also be exploring ways of removing the funding barriers to encourage more local areas that are interested in fluoridating water to come forward with proposals.