How Sheffield Children’s is supporting families to have a healthier smile

Did you know that tooth decay is the most common oral disease affecting children and young people in England? Almost 9 out of 10 hospital tooth extractions among children aged 0 to 5 years are due to preventable tooth decay and tooth extraction is still the most common hospital procedure in 6 to 10 year olds, yet tooth decay is largely preventable.

Here at Sheffield Children’s, we know that a smile can go a long way and that having healthy teeth is incredibly important for children and young people.

Sheffield Children’s is dedicated to highlighting the importance of caring for teeth as part of our commitment to healthier futures for children and young people.  We have a number of initiatives that share information and equip families with the tools to improve dental health.

We love meeting members of the Sheffield Children’s community at our many Super Saturday events which are held throughout the year. Super Saturday event are held at pop-up sites across Sheffield, including at Sheffield Children’s Hospital on Western Bank, in the community and at Meadowhall, run by nurses, doctors and health visitors. Our fantastic team provide families with information to give families a better understanding of the importance of leading a healthier lifestyle – which includes having healthier teeth. Super Saturday began in October 2021, since then we’ve held 13 Super Saturday’s! Overall, we’ve provided 2,000 oral health packs at these events – which include a toothbrush, toothpaste and information leaflet about tooth brushing, and 100 dental sensory packs.

You can read more about Super Saturday on our website. The next event will be on September 7, so please keep out for the activities near you.

We have also launched an initiative which provides much needed essentials to families staying overnight at our hospital site – which includes toothbrushes and toothpaste. The ‘Families Matter’ initiative aims to help reduce the financial cost of a hospital stay, including support with travel, food and much more. Since starting this back in 2022, we’ve provided over 10,000 sets of toothbrushes and toothpaste to families who have stayed on our wards, as well as extending this to patients after dental surgery.

We work closely with partners across Sheffield including schools, family hubs run by Sheffield City Council, and other voluntary organisations to help support families in keeping healthier teeth. On a city-wide scale, Sheffield has one of the largest supervised toothbrushing programmes in England. The programme means that approximately 9,000 children are supervised whilst brushing their teeth every day in schools and nurseries. This means that children can develop the skills that they need at an early age to carry this on at home.

For further information on how to keep your family’s teeth healthy, please visit:

https://library.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/oral-health/