Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional support they are providing to children in areas with the worst oral health outcomes.

The Government is committed to improving oral health and particularly of deprived children. This goal was set out in the 2017 manifesto and reflected in the recently published NHS Long Term Plan. Over 70 practices are currently trialling a new way of delivering primary care dentistry which focusses on prevention and helping patients to reduce their risk of future disease.

Alongside this the ‘Starting Well’ programme, led by NHS England, is designed to reach out to young children in high need areas who are not currently under the care of a dentist. These areas were selected on their level of current oral health. There are now over 300 practices participating in the scheme which began in spring 2018. In addition to the original scheme covering 13 areas NHS England has developed a similar model any area can commission and fund depending on local need.

Initiatives to improve children’s oral health are co-ordinated overall by Public Health England working through its Child Oral Health Improvement Programme Board. This brings together individual schemes along with wider work that influences oral health including the sugar levy as part of work to tackle obesity.