Improving children's oral health: developing a partnership approach

Oral health is integral to general health and wellbeing, and although in England oral health has been improving, challenges still remain. Inequalities exist, with some of the most vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people facing significant oral health problems. Developing a partnership approach to oral health improvement across the health and social care system is key if we are to improve oral health for all. Dental teams have a key part to play, along with other organisations including local authorities (LAs), NHS England (NHSE) commissioners, Public Health England (PHE) and Health Education England (HEE).

In England, tooth decay is the most common oral disease affecting children and young people, with 27.9% of five-year-olds (PHE, 2013a) and 12% of 3-year-olds (PHE, 2013b) experiencing decay. Although there have been improvements over the past 20 years, children living in deprived communities continue to experience a greater burden of this disease when compared to their peers living in wealthier communities (Marmot and Bell, 2011). Across England there are regional variations in dental decay, as shown in Figure 1; 21.2% of five-year-olds in the south east of England experience decay compared to 34.8% in the north west (PHE, 2013a). In addition, variations within local authority areas at ward level are often even greater.