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Published on: December 31, 2017
A school-based oral health intervention in East London: the Happy Teeth fluoride varnish programme
1Barts Health NHS Trust, Community Dental Services, 3rd floor Block B, St Leonard's Primary Care Centre, Nuttall Street, London, N1 5LZ.
Background:
The Community Dental Services of Barts Health NHS Trust in City and Hackney and Tower Hamlets PCTs in East London have provided a school-based oral health intervention since 2009.
Objective:
The aim of this paper is to present the programme development, outcomes and evaluation.
Subjects And Methods:
The programme consists of fluoride varnish applications linked to school dental screenings for three to six-year-olds, combined with oral health promotion for parents/carers. An outreach linkworker works closely with schools to help identify and support vulnerable families into the programme.
Results:
In the first year of the programme 160 of the target children (42%) had one FV application and 81 children (21%) had two applications. In the second year 149 children (39%) had one FV application, and 113 (29%) had two applications. Amendments to the protocol increased programme participation in the third year, with 1,822 of the target children (61%) having one FV application and 1,586 (53%) having two applications.
Conclusions:
The programme proved acceptable to the school staff, participating parents/carers and children. The Happy Teeth programme is proposed as a model for school-based fluoride varnish programmes.
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