Oral Health Improvement Team – Bury – Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Bury Oral Health Promotion leads on the implementation and maintenance of a range of evidence-based programmes to reduce both the levels of oral disease and inequalities of oral health in Bury.

Bury Oral Health Promotion Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust delivers training to key workforces and relevant health professionals and carers.

The Bury Oral Health Improvement team has a particular focus on early years to lay the foundations for good oral health, targeting the areas and settings with the highest levels of poor oral health.

The Oral Health Team Bury has developed a digital resources page which has many useful links and resources to promote good oral health at:

Oral Health Improvement Bury | The Bury Directory

Our programmes include:

Supervised toothbrushing programmes – offered to all Early Years settings and Reception classes. Encouraging supervised toothbrushing in early years settings.
The Golden Apple Award Scheme – designed for early years settings who wish to improve nutrition, hygiene and dental health amongst children in their care.
Training for Early Years Practitioners (including childminders, school nurses)
Health Visitor – Oral Health Programme packs provided for distribution at 9 month and 2 Year assessments.

Our objectives are:

To work closely with Public Health Team and the Bury Early Year’s Team
To support parents / carers to implement oral health friendly feeding
To ensure effective tooth brushing and oral health messages to reduce the number of children with dental caries
To equip parents / carers with the knowledge and alternatives to enable them to minimise the consumption of sugar in food, drinks and medicines, and the impact of these at various times of the day
To encourage all Early Years settings to achieve the Early Years Foundation stage framework requirement to promote good oral health
To provide borough wide communications with key oral health improvement messages and a consistent approach
To develop and implement effective ways to enable lived experience to shape and influence local service planning and delivery
To have named Oral Health Champions in each of the Children’s Centres / Family Hubs
Supporting National Campaigns – National Smile Month, World Oral Health Day, Mouth Cancer Action Month.