Free online learning: Children's Oral Health Advice for All

An exciting online education tool has been launched to provide information and advice about the oral health of children.

The new 20-minute e-learning session, developed by Director of Orthodontics Professor Nigel Hunt and colleagues*, covers the main causes of tooth decay and simple actions that can be taken to prevent it. 

It also explains about when a child’s primary and adult teeth start to appear and what should be done if a tooth is knocked out. 

Tooth decay affects around a quarter of five-year-olds in England and extraction of carious teeth is the most likely reason for a child in the UK to require general anaesthetic.

Professor Hunt said: “Oral health plays an important part in every child’s wellbeing, affecting their ability to eat and sleep, to socialise and to concentrate at school. 

“Tooth decay is almost entirely preventable and we hope that this simple online exercise will equip parents, teachers and others to provide much needed guidance to children in their care.”

*The programme was developed in conjunction with Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH), the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons and UCLH Eastman Dental Hospital.

Further e-learning sessions will be added later in 2019 to support the understanding of children’s oral health advice for the health and social care workforce.

Access the tool