Children in the Far North region are set to have a future with healthy teeth thanks to a new supervised toothbrushing programme created by the Northland DHB and backed by Clare, with over 4,000 kids expected to benefit in the first wave of the programme roll out.
Each child will be supervised every day at school, brushing their teeth with their gifted toothbrush and toothpaste, with an assigned oral health coordinator providing ongoing oral health education at the schools participating in the programme.
Clare’s aim to improve oral health outcomes is a key focus area, and one that’s especially close to the heart of founder Anna Stuck.
“As a former dentist, I am really passionate about everyone having the benefit of good oral health,” says Ms Stuck. “It is really exciting to support a locally-led initiative that has shown such promising results in the pilot developed by Ellen Clark and the team at Northland DHB.”
Alice Montague, Clare Foundation CEO, notes that the rollout of major healthcare projects like the supervised toothbrushing programme is likely to have positive flow-on effects.
“Clare has a systems-level focus, so we are supporting an evaluation alongside the project, and based on the results, we hope that this provides evidence for a wider rollout around the country. This is a great opportunity to invest in a project with the potential to have positive health outcomes for all our tamariki.”
Roll out of the programme is phased, and the long term plan is for the programme to be introduced at all schools in the Northland region.