Research has revealed that half (50 per cent) of parents haven’t taken their children to the dentist by the time they are three years old, despite official guidance recommending they are taken when their first milk teeth appear.

Denplan’s Oral Health Survey 2024 revealed that only 45 per cent of parents said they have taken or planned to take their children to the dentist before they turn three years old. NHS guidance recommends taking a child to the dentist when their baby teeth appear, so the dentist can identify any oral health problems at an early stage, advise on how to prevent tooth decay, and get children familiar with going to a dentist.

One in five (21 per cent) parents say their children brush less than twice per day or not at all, up from one in seven (14 per cent) in 2023.

According to the survey, parents welcomed further education on oral healthcare habits, with 86 per cent agreeing that good habits should be taught in childhood to improve health for life. Almost four in ten parents (37 per cent) think the government should implement oral health education in schools to help tackle the current children’s dental crisis. School-supervised toothbrushing, a policy teased by Labour ahead of the 2024 election, would be welcomed by almost half of parents (49 per cent).

However, when questioned on whose responsibility it is, most parents (89 per cent) think they should be responsible for supervised toothbrushing, with only 29 per cent saying teachers were responsible for their children’s oral health.

The report surveyed over 5,000 adults making it one of the largest surveys of the dental habits in Great Britain.

Catherine Rutland, dentist and clinical director at Denplan, said, “Unfortunately, many parents think “they’re only baby teeth so there’s no need to go to the dentist,” however baby teeth can stay with us until we’re around 12 years old. Currently tooth decay is still the number one reason children aged six to 10 are admitted to hospital, which is deeply saddening.

“Many parents are also unaware that brushing should still be supervised by an adult every day until children are over seven years old to be confident they’re doing it correctly.”

Catherine added, “It is important to offer quality oral health education in primary schools, but our research shows that it cannot be relied on as the only solution if children only benefit four or five years after their first teeth appear. We need a far wider public health education campaign and a long-term solution that gives every child access to a local dentist. To improve access, the government must address the shortage of dentists in the workforce and commit to reforms of the NHS contract.”

Oral health education

Denplan works with the charity Dentaid to help provide oral health education in schools across the country through the ‘BrightBites’ programme.

Andy Evans, CEO of Dentaid, said, “Every day we see the impact of poor dental health at our charity dental clinics and the effect this has on our patients’ confidence, prospects and wellbeing. We know that instilling knowledge about the importance of dental health from an early age is critically important.

“The joy of ‘BrightBites’ is that it’s an innovative, fun-filled programme that can be delivered by anyone at schools, nurseries and community groups across the UK – focused on areas of social deprivation. The children learn so much from the sessions and ask lots of questions, which really helps them to grasp knowledge about the importance of healthy diets, toothbrushing and going to see the dentist.We are very proud to be working with Denplan on this project and we’re excited to see it grow and reach new communities.”

Author: