Sunflowers Day Nursery in Wolverhampton has been conducting oral health sessions to help tackle the high levels of childhood decay.

The nursery has been conducting daily supervised toothbrushing sessions for 10 months.

The city has the highest percentage of children with decayed, missing or filled teeth in the country at 42.7 per cent. The national average is 23 per cent.

Kerry Burden, the preschool’s supervisor, told BBC News, “We have noticed a decline, especially in the past couple of years.

"We've even had children sent to hospital to actually have teeth removed at the age of three over poor hygiene and lack of parental knowledge about dental care."

The local council’s oral health team contacted the nursery in September 2023 to see if they would participate in the scheme.

The project encourages children to brush their teeth for two minutes daily at the nursery while listening to a song, in addition to the twice-daily brushing advised at home.

Kerry added, "It's a really good thing for the children, we've even noticed that parents are probably getting their children to brush their teeth at home a little easier because it's part of the nursery routine now.”

References available on request.

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