Focus: How school libraries can support children’s oral health education by providing access to excellent books promoting strategies for good dental hygiene and healthy eating.
Age Group: Early years/Primary
Synopsis: Children’s dental health in the UK is now at crisis point, according to a recent study highlighting increasing levels of decay and pain among children from as young as age 3 upwards. Dental decay is the most common cause of hospitalisation among children aged 5-9, with evidence pointing to poor diet, increasingly limited access to NHS dental care, and lack of parental education as major underlying causes.
The research report calls on the government to take urgent action to tackle the epidemic of poor dental health. A national child oral health strategy is proposed, requiring a response at all levels, and the inclusion of professionals, academics and parents to bring about urgently needed change. Early Years practitioners, teachers and librarians all have a role to play in supporting health professionals to improve health prospects for our children, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, who are more than twice as likely to suffer from dental disease.
Stories can provide a fun and engaging way to explain to young children how to look after their teeth, and there are a range of excellent information books which are also ideal for sharing and discussion. The Early Years framework and national curriculum require the teaching of oral health and healthy diets, and the attached book list provides suggestions of recommended books to support teachers, parents and children in the careful modelling and understanding of good dental hygiene and healthier lifestyles.
Rachel Johnston
Harrow SLS
Librarian’s view:
Dental health matters: tackling the ‘national embarrassment’ of the crisis in children’s dental health through children’s books
A hospital operation is one experience that no parent would want their child to face, yet every year thousands of children are hospitalised through an entirely preventable cause – tooth decay. The state of children’s teeth has become ‘a national embarrassment’, according to one of the authors of a major report published in September 2024(1) which revealed the extent of the current crisis in children’s oral health.
The research shows that fewer than four out of ten children in England have good oral health, with decay, pain and infection being the most common reason for hospital admissions in the five to nine age group, costing the NHS over £40.7 million in 2023. As with other health concerns such as childhood obesity, levels of poor dental health are shown to be affected by socio-economic factors, with children from deprived areas being more than twice as likely to suffer poor dental health. The report calls for urgent action as part of a national child oral health strategy to tackle the major underlying causes for the rising levels of dental disease, including increasingly limited access to NHS dental care, and a lack of parental education on unhealthy foods and good dental hygiene.
In presenting recommendations to inform the new government strategy currently in preparation, the report suggests that addressing problems on this scale will require action at all levels, and the inclusion of professionals, academics and parents to bring about urgently needed changes, with a greater emphasis on preventative dentistry, delivered through a more wholistic approach. Early Years practitioners, teachers and librarians all have a role to play in supporting health professionals to improve health prospects for our children. Professor Waterhouse states, ‘We should be looking to a future where multiple measures are blended across not only dental services but wider health services, education, and social care to target those in most need, whether that is due to socioeconomic deprivation, geography, ethnicity or disability.’(2)
The evidence shows that children with poor oral health may be disadvantaged in their speech and language development, with dental pain and infection impacting on their school attendance and future life outcomes. ‘The impact of poor oral health stretches way beyond childhood and so every one of us should see this as a key health promotion and disease prevention strategy that benefits the whole nation.’
Laying the foundations of good oral health for children starts with educating new parents on the importance of establishing a healthy diet for their babies, introducing tooth brushing and taking their children to the dentist. Stories can provide a fun and engaging way to explain to young children why caring for their teeth is important, and there are a range of excellent information books which support children’s learning and are ideal for sharing and discussion. The Early Years framework and national curriculum require that children should be taught about oral health and healthy diets, and the attached book list provides suggestions of recommended books to support teachers, parents and children in the careful modelling and understanding of good dental hygiene and healthier lifestyles which would be useful in any classroom or school library.
1. ‘An evidence-based plan for improving children’s oral health with and through educational settings.’ Marshman, Z., Day, P. F., Wood, M. L. et al. (2024), online, https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/347136809/CotN_Oral-Health_Report_8.pdf, 2024
2. Op.cit. p5.
Resources: Examples from the Healthy Smile Booklist
Ada, Look at my teeth!
by Daishu Ma
An ideal board book for sharing and exploring the subject of teeth with very young children, in which Ada introduces her animal friends and compares their teeth.
Books for sharing with children aged 0-3
Croc goes to the dentist
by Sue Graves
Colourful, boldly drawn illustrations by Trevor Dunton accompany this funny story introducing the new experience of visiting the dentist, which is followed by a section for parents and carers with activities and ideas for discussion.
Ages 4-6, Foundation Stage/Key Stage 1
Wearing Braces
by Harriet Brundle
An ideal book to use with children in years 2-4 who are about to have braces fitted to their teeth. This is a straight-forward introduction to how braces work, visiting the orthodontist and managing eating and dental hygiene afterwards, presented by Millie Molar and Bertie Bracket, the Human Body Helpers.
Ages 6-8, Key Stage 1/2
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