The Brush Bus Rolls Into School

12 April, 2011

City Health Care Partnership CIC, in partnership with 543 Dental Centre and Henry Schein, has been taking forward its innovative ‘Brush Bus’ project promoting dental health in local schools.

The project, now in its fifth year, has started a new programme at Francis Askew Primary School, North Road, Hull. Children at the school will have the opportunity to learn more about keeping tooth decay at bay, get their own toothbrush to store in a ‘Brush Bus’, and also take part in a dental screening programme with dentists from 543 Dental Centre, on Anlaby Road, Hull.

The dentists from 543 will monitor children’s dental health on a six monthly basis to provide clinical data. The idea is that this data will help to make a case for expanding the Brush Bus scheme into other schools by proving it acts as a preventive measure to poor oral health.

Every day pupils will sit down at their desks ready for the Brush Bus after lunch and each class have its own specially designed Brush Buses that hold toothbrushes for every child. The children then brush their teeth and learn how to keep their teeth clean and healthy.

“The water in Hull is particularly low in fluoride and we have some of the highest rates of child tooth decay in the country. The Brush Bus is a vital way of reducing tooth decay and educating children so that they continue to have good dental health as they get older,” explained Ingrid Perry, Dental Health Educator for City Health Care Partnership.

“CHCP Dental Services is delighted to be working in partnership with 543 Dental Centre. This is the first time a General Dental Practice has been involved with the programme and is an excellent example of multi-agency working, helping to improve the dental health of children in Hull.”

The idea behind the scheme was to make teeth brushing a fun class activity and tie dental health and healthy eating into relevant learning streams and topics that classes were already working on. Teaching guides and visual aids such as numeracy activities and science experiments are also used to make learning exciting and fun.

Chris Groombridge, joint managing director at 543, added: “543 Dental Centre are delighted to support this vital scheme. Every day we treat the problems that poor dental health brings amongst children. We are still having to put 20 to 25 children to sleep every week to treat easily preventable dental decay. As everyone knows prevention is better than cure.”

Simon Gambold, managing director at Henry Schein commented: “We are very pleased to be supporting CHCP and 543 in this important programme and hope to see some real impact on children’s oral health in Hull.”