Childsmile shows way forward for English kids’ oral health
A recent meeting of paediatric dentists in London focused on the achievements of the Childsmile programme in Scotland and how English dentistry could learn from the successful initiative.
Professor Lorna Macpherson, co-director and evaluation lead for the programme, presented to the meeting of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry on the topic “Learning from Childsmile”.
At the meeting, Prof Macpherson remarked on what she felt was a great enthusiasm for change in the room and likened it to how the profession in Scotland had felt when they embarked on a stakeholders meeting at the turn of the century before Childsmile was launched.
The aim of the meeting was to look at ways of breaking down barriers to improve the oral health of children in England.
One of the major successes highlighted by Prof Macpherson was seeing dentistry integrating with other aspects of healthcare as well as the reduction by a third of the number of general anaesthetics carried out for multiple extractions of teeth in children.
Claire Stevens, spokesperson for BSPD, said after the meeting that one of the society’s aims was to see a programme like Scotland’s Childsmile implemented in England.
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