Time to call out shit parenting!

if It became a standard practice that teachers taught teeth brushing then even more parents would stop teaching their kids, the problem could become larger. And what happens at wknds and during holidays when they’re not at school to brush their teeth. I don’t think teachers should be compensating for bad or lazy parenting. We should be calling these parents out. But unfortunately we’re now in this culture where no one dares say anything and then they make excuses for them. There’s always been parents who have struggled and had mental health issues. Society now excuses poor parenting that’s the difference

Teachers already do more parenting than they should- the Teacher's Union should definitely call this out.
Unengaged parents is not a new problem but with many children arriving at school not toilet trained is has reached new highs, allowing a public broadcaster to advocate parents not teaching their own children personal hygiene is unacceptable.

My DC had teeth brushing at nursery’s we sent in a toothbrush and toothpaste when they was in the pre-school class and they used to brush their teeth. We were brushing their teeth for them anyway (think our dentist recommended we do this until they were 7 or 8).

When I was at school we had a dentist visit us and show us how to brush. We also had a visit to the dentist. I don’t remember any more than that though.

My big question is, why do parents not know to get their kids brushing their teeth?

There aren't enough Social Workers in the world to deal with this issue.

It's not as simple as you've made it out to be. Yes teeth brushing should be parental responsibility, but there are contributing factors as to why there are such issues with tooth decay in young children.

1. lack of dentist visits
   People aren't able to get dentist appointments. Some parents haven't seen a dentist in 10-15 years due to a combination of cost, and lack of NHS dentistry. I have seen places of wait lists of 2 years. If the parents aren't supported or instilled with good dental health it's a hard skill to pass on. Whilst dentistry is free for children, it's still hard to get places for kids at a NHS dentist.

2. dietary changes
   People consume far more sugar now (both actively and passively) leading to an increase in decay, cavities etc. however if you can't afford to get it treated or you don't know that fruit for example is highly corrosive for teeth, you might think your kids super healthy and not realise you've cause dental decay.

I'd like to see dental hygiene prioritised in nurseries and schools as a general well being practice. Dentists/dental assistants coming in and showing how to brush, what motions to use, how to floss (for senior school). Then guidance on how often to visit a dentist.

When I was younger that's what dental visits were for - they showed us how to brush, let us practice on a fake mouth, then we got a sticker and a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Same way people need to learn how to cook, or what a healthy diet is. Information needs to be taught and shared amongst groups. I'm not sure what school is for if it's not for passing on both practical education skills but social, emotional and physical wellbeing learning also.

The “doesn’t like water” argument makes me so irritated. Now, we love a fruit shoot when we’re out and about don’t get me wrong and it is a treat for days out; but not multiple a day throughout the day. It’s usually with a maccies or a couple at the table if we’re out for a family meal ect. And we do drink squashes at home occasionally, but both kids know that squash/juice is a treat and they at 5 & 2 years old will happily ask for and drink water.. because I haven’t conditioned them into thinking it’s the only thing they can drink. We did have a “please can I have juice I don’t want water” phase.. but as other say, water gets put in their bottle and they either drink it or they don’t, then any juice privilege is stripped until they understand that it’s a treat, not a survival necessity.

But I remember in the late 80s we would have someone come in and show us how to brush our teeth.We got given a free toothbrush and told to brush our teeth, then handed a little purple pill that you had to chew on after which stained your teeth in areas you hadn’t brushed properly.
I also remember the dreaded nit nurse blimey weren’t our parents neglectful too.

DS is autistic, and after years of cleaning his teeth being absolutely set in stone that it had to be done, during a time when he was very distressed he just stopped. Refused. Trying to do it for him would lead to a meltdown, and his meltdowns are violent. During that time of extreme distress due to issues in school I had to go to A&E three times, he kicked holes in his bedroom door, a hole in the wall in the hall, would try to harm himself and would regularly leave me and DH bruised and bleeding. I couldn't make him clean his teeth - or have a bath/shower or change his clothes.

He now manages to clean his teeth at night using a u shaped electric brush, dentist says his teeth are fine so far, though obviously the situation isn't ideal but that we're doing the best we can. Tbh getting him to the dentist is a bit of an ordeal as well, that requires careful planning. We need him to clean his teeth so he, fingers crossed, doesn't need dental treatment because he wouldn't agree to it and I don't know what would happen then.

Learning the importance of tooth brushing as part of PSHE is fine.

Expecting a teacher to perform a personal hygeniene activity to a child is not OK.

Once you start doing these things, parenting declines even more as people simply expect that the school will do it all.

Already there are universal free school meals for infants, talk of a breakfast club and now toothbrushing. Why don't we just make all schools boarding and then the parents can wash their hands of them entirely.

I'm from a country with free health care and dentistry. In school, from kindergarten up until the 3rd or 4th grade, we were taught about teeth brushing, hygiene, and the importance of physical activity. This was standard. We had dental checkups at school and nit nurses.

The teaching of how to brush your teeth from teachers, dentists and at home just worked to reinforce the importance, the method, and routine.

I don't see a problem with teachers teaching young children about this. Self care should be taught.

A lot of these issues come down to one simple fact and that's lack of education. Having money/wealth doesn't necessarily mean you've been taught these things. But, are more likely to have higher/better personal care outcomes.

Crap parenting or an inability for families to access NHS dental care at an earlier age?

This world we are living in is bonkers,there’s
no lessons in schools re cooking basic nutrition, hygiene ,basic first aid so many people with children were raised with no skills at all, and don’t even get me started on finance credit cards bank interest all of that important stuff.
you just need to take a look at the shopping trolleys of so many people living on low incomes trolley stuffed with processed food sweets, et cetera et cetera and McDonald’s is considered food!
no wonder kids have rotting teeth, if you aren’t
taught the basics by someone, what else can u do ,
if I was in government, I would be taxing Amazon and not allowing them to earn so much money in this country with paying no tax and use those funds to set up community cooking lessons child rearing , health and hygiene the damm whole lot !!
the lack of basic knowledge is another reason A and E is rammed

Trying to getting an NHS dentist is more important. Nearly impossible.

I agree.

I have a four year old and two year old who usually brush their teeth well without any issue. They are preschoolers though so of course on occasion they don’t want to or don’t do a good enough job so me and my husband step in to ensure they do. We also did the two man job of one parent brushing their teeth and one holding their arms in the early days that others have already mentioned, which although not a particularly enjoyable experience, went by pretty quickly as they soon got the message that teeth brushing is none negotiable.

I think that talking about dental hygiene as part of the curriculum is good as is showing the potential consequences of not brushing. I think dentists or dental nurses coming to demonstrate how to properly brush their teeth is great (and even better with free toothbrushes and toothpaste). But as a parent, I absolutely don’t want the time it takes to ensure 30 children have brushed their teeth properly taken away from the core curriculum that teachers should be teaching. I don’t want my kids to see others refusing to do it or doing a half hearted job of it etc as I feel it will undo the work me and husband have put in at home. We’ve also taught our children to stand still and safely and not run around (which was harder than actually getting them to brush their teeth) and again, I don’t want them to see the opposite of this in a large group situation!

It might not be the most fun thing to do, brushing a toddlers teeth but it’s just something you have to do. I don’t know how any parent can neglect their child to the point of them being in pain and having to go through having their teeth removed through sheer laziness.

This is 100% the parents job.

Society always needs a safety net for shite. Children are born and need protection. They can’t be dismissed because they have crap parents.

Sometimes it might be shit parenting, but sometimes its education. I'm middle aged and my mother taught me to brush my teeth twice a day. I just assumed everyone knew to do that. But another parent I know (who cares very well for her children) said she only ever brushes her children's teeth once a day and was surprised to hear we were taught otherwise.

I can't remember - does a newborn's 'red book' have info about dental care? If not, maybe that could be added.

I don't think it is a teacher's job to arrange for an entire class to brush their teeth in the morning, but needs must. If you need to change things at a population level, this might be a good way to do it. When these children grow up, they will know how to care for their own children's teeth properly.

Another alternative (or something to go hand in hand with the above) is to have a dentist's office on the school grounds and every child in the school sees the school dentist once or twice a year, who not only checks their teeth but teaches them how to brush properly. This is what was in place when I was in primary school - in hindsight, probably because it was in a deprived area and the Gov was trying to improve child health.

At the end of the day, it's pointless to just lay blame. We have to look at how we can change things nationwide and over the long term.

The intervention is the teacher these days

Cost cutting

Teachers should not be teaching tooth brushing or dealing with any kind of toileting, barring accidents. Reinforce healthy habits by all means, but this is a job for home, and if home can’t provide it, then intervention is needed.

They existed yes

BUT

They came out at Christmas and birthdays

And when I was a bit older I had enough pocket money for 4oz of sweets once a week

Which I made last 2 days usually

Where does this stop? Schools are there to teach children, not to make up for poor parents. If social services took children away who had tooth decay (it’s clearly a form of child abuse) you can bet your bottom dollars a good chunk of the problem would go away. And who’s to say the children wouldn’t be better off, rather than still with the awful parents.

Things that existed in the 60s-80s:
Sweets
Cake
Biscuits
Full sugar squash
Fizzy drinks

Depends on the age. As toddlers I'd wrap in abathtowel (to stop flailing limbs) and them pinch their noses shut so they had to open their mouths to breath, then brush. Only had to do it a few times before they got the message.

Am laughing at the idea that parents who can't be arsed to brush their children's teeth are going to bother taking them to the dentist.

All the holier than thous brought up in 60s to 80s forget there were minimal pernicious influences on children’s diets - fruit shoots and the like were not freely available. Children had school nurses, school milk , nit nurses, weighing and measuring and access to dentists who routinely made 6 month appointments. When I was young a thimble full of cocoa cola was a very rare treat- cans weren’t stashed to the ceiling for a fraction of the cost of milk. Ditto sweets. Primary children now get fruit ( sweet) and mass produced sugar laden foods are heavily advertised on children’s media which is way more widely consumed than the controlled “ children’s tv “ of bygone years. . Yes parents should take some responsibility- but it’s completely disingenuous to pretend that it’s as easy and straightforward to keep children’s teeth as healthy as they used to be.