Supervised toothbrushing
How to run a supervised toothbrushing scheme in your early years setting.
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What is a supervised toothbrushing scheme?
In supervised toothbrushing schemes, children are encouraged to brush their own teeth as a group activity in your early years setting. You do not brush children’s teeth for them. Supervised toothbrushing is intended to be an enjoyable child-led activity. Here is a video showing a scheme in action.
The benefits of supervised toothbrushing schemes in early years settings
Supervised toothbrushing schemes are an excellent way to promote oral health in your setting. These schemes prevent tooth decay by:
- teaching children how to brush their teeth with a fluoride toothpaste
- encouraging toothbrushing routines at home by developing positive behaviours in young children
Daily toothbrushing in your early years setting is especially important for those children who may not regularly brush their teeth at home.
Government funded supervised toothbrushing programme
The government announced a fully funded supervised toothbrushing programme in March 2025. This voluntary programme will be available in targeted early years settings, including nurseries, reception classes and childminders.
Settings who choose to participate may also have toothbrushes and toothpaste provided through the government partnership with Colgate-Palmolive.
Early years practitioners will receive locally provided training to make sure they have the skills needed to run supervised toothbrushing sessions in their settings.
It is also important for toothbrushing to take place at home. The supervised programme includes:
- a ‘Little kids’ toothbrush
- ‘Little kids’ toothpaste
- educational material for parents and carers
This new scheme is not intended to replace existing supervised toothbrushing offers. There are different schemes that support supervised toothbrushing. Speak to your local authority to see what is on offer in your local area.
You can find useful resources to help you with supervised toothbrushing in the resources section of this article.
How do early years settings take part?
Local authorities are co-ordinating the national supervised toothbrushing programme. If your setting is eligible, the local authority team will contact you to explain how to take part and support you in implementing the scheme in your setting. You can also choose to run a scheme without support from the local authority team.
Supporting children with SEND
You should support children with SEND to be involved with supervised toothbrushing sessions. You can make some adjustments to help all children get involved, such as:
- using non-foaming toothpaste
- using flavour-free toothpaste
- allowing children to bring in their own toothpaste or toothbrush
Taking part is voluntary and some children may need a bit more time before they are happy to join in. Allow them to watch and gently encourage them to get them involved at their own pace.
The resources section of this article includes information about helping children with SEND, such as autism, to be involved.
Case study: Tinsley Meadows Primary Academy
David Yates, a teacher at Tinsley Meadows Primary Academy in Sheffield, set up a supervised toothbrushing club for his 3 to 4 year olds.
David had noticed how tooth decay and toothache were impacting on his Foundation Stage 1 class. They were affecting both the children’s speech development and their wider learning.
He wanted to find a way to prevent tooth decay that was:
- easy to build into the daily class routine
- in line with EYFS requirements
- fun for the children
As a first step, David contacted the school’s local authority. They put him in touch with their oral health promotion team, who advised him on different options he could try. After this meeting, David got permission from the school’s senior leadership team to set up a supervised toothbrushing club.
A member of the oral health promotion team helped David set up the club and provided:
- training and a protocol for practitioners to follow
- toothbrushes, toothpaste and toothbrush racks
- a workshop for parents and carers to explain what the club involved and answer their questions about oral health
- a follow up visit one month later to review how the club was going
- ongoing support and supplies to keep the club running
More than 60 children attend the club. The school use the club to support other topics about healthy diet, as well as role play activities and stories about visiting the dentist.
David has seen lots of benefits for children who attend the club, including:
- enjoying brushing their teeth more
- learning from watching each other
- positive feedback from parents and carers, who say the children are more co-operative with toothbrushing at home
“At first I did think… we are going to do toothbrushing now and we have 60 children. What if it is chaos and they all brush each other’s hair, or they all share? But they are really good at it. I am proud of them. The children seem to enjoy and engage with it. It’s a whole group experience so it’s something that we do as a shared thing. For other practitioners thinking about trying supervised toothbrushing, I would say do it! Find a local expert, get some initial training, and then give it a go.”
David Yates, teacher at Tinsley Meadows Primary Academy
Resources
This vodcast featuring officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Education answers frequently asked questions on the Government’s funded supervised toothbrushing programme.
This toolkit from BRUSH helps support the implementation of supervised toothbrushing.
Use this tool to find your local authority. Your local authority may be able to offer support to introduce supervised toothbrushing in your setting.
This toolkit by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities gives more information on how to set up supervised toothbrushing programmes.
The resources provided by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry include:
- information about supervised toothbrushing for parents and carers of children with special educational needs
- information about oral health for parents and carers of autistic children and those with additional sensory needs