Children taught teeth care amid extractions fear

Lucy Drohan, assistant head teacher at Shiphay Learning Academy, said it was important to share the message

Children in Torbay are receiving lessons in good oral hygiene to try to curb the large number who need to have teeth removed under general anaesthetic.

Almost 25% of five year olds in the area experience tooth decay which leads to extractions in hospital, said Torbay Council.

That rate is four times the average in England according to Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise which is going into schools giving advice.

Many children have never visited a dentist because of the pandemic and a lack of available NHS dentists, it said.

Lessons will run until the end of March

Lucy Drohan, assistant head teacher at Shiphay Learning Academy, which is one of the schools taking part, said: "We already talk to children about dental health but it’s important to keep sharing the message."

Karen Burn, from the peninsula team, said 77% of Torbay's primary schools had taken up the lessons.

"All the schools we have visited have been very accommodating and the children have been amazing in contributing to the sessions," she said.

The lessons started earlier this year and will run until the end of March.