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.
The impact of this is clear. Last year, the rate of decay-related tooth extraction for children and young people living in the most deprived communities was over three times that of those living in the most affluent communities. Yorkshire and Humber, home to some of the poorest communities in England, had the highest rate of decay-related tooth extractions for the fourth year running. For every 100,000 children under 19 in the region, 504 had an extraction that may involve being put under general anaesthesia.
The frustrating truth is: tooth decay is almost entirely preventable.
Prevention starts with awareness
Tooth decay happens when there is a build-up of bacteria in our mouths. Dietary sugars are then eaten by these bacteria and over time, if sugar is eaten often enough cavities form and the teeth may become compromised.
However, by brushing teeth at least twice a day, maintaining a healthy, low-sugar diet and ensuring regular check-ups at the dentists, this is an entirely avoidable situation.
This is where education becomes crucial – and where teachers can make real difference.
Parents and caregivers play the primary role in establishing healthy routines at home, but they cannot do it alone. Schools can be a vital partner in reinforcing these messages and ensuring that every child understands the importance of good oral hygiene. Education in schools can help transform tooth brushing from a reluctant routine into a lifelong habit at home. When children understand why they are brushing their teeth, they are far more likely to engage.
Programmes that bring oral health education directly into schools are proving particularly powerful – and the BrightBites programme, led by Dentaid the Dental Charity and supported by Denplan, is one example that is having an impact
The programme helps young people to learn how to care for their teeth and understand why it matters to them. Together we have already reached 200,000 children in schools and community settings across the country, with an ambitious goal of reaching 500,000 children by 2028.
The programme’s mission is to improve children’s oral health and raise awareness of its vitality to overall health and life outcomes. It is specifically focused on reaching communities that lack access to regular dental services, ensuring nobody is left behind.
Schools as partners
Schools are key partners in awareness raising, ensuring children are taught the importance of oral hygiene from an early age. This can take many forms: through lessons about healthy diets and best practice for keeping our teeth clean, informational posters displayed in clearly visible areas around school, or partnerships with initiatives such as BrightBites.
However, education alone cannot solve this problem. For true change to come about, national policy must evolve.
In line with this, Denplan held an event in Parliament in October 2025, bringing together MPs, dentists and school children. The aim was to call for greater preventative action from the government to combat children’s tooth decay in the UK, because the future of dentistry will only be secured when urgent care and preventative care are equally balanced – and this begins as a child.
The evidence is clear: children who develop poor dental habits early in life tend to have worse oral health into adulthood. Investing in prevention during childhood is therefore not just a short-term solution but a long-term public health strategy.
A problem we can solve
The scale of our oral health crisis is alarming, but solvable. Unlike many health problems, tooth decay is largely avoidable.
Educational initiatives such as BrightBites show what is possible when we work together to promote healthier habits from an early age.
No child should spend time in hospital and miss out on critical learning at school because they were failed by a broken system.
To register for a BrightBites session, visit here: https://www.dentaid.org/brightbites-register-your-school/
