To think that parents are responsible for their children's teeth?

[insancerre]

Dental surgeon on BBC breakfast
Says that nurseries should be brushing children's teeth
She is regularly removing all 20 baby teethfrom toddlers under a general and giving teenagers false teeth

I work in a nursery and I really don't see this as my responsibility

It's down to parents to take children to the dentist and to brush their teeth

[ElphabaTheGreen]

But nurseries up and down the country manage it without complaint or difficulty, OP...

[LovelyBranches]

I hate brushing ds’s teeth. It’s the one job as a parent I wish I didn’t have to do. I do it, obviously but DS screams shouts, kicks his feet, runs away. It’s a nightmare. I’ve bought every toothbrush and toothpaste on the market. I’ve researched various methods and tricks that may help. It doesn’t. I’ve also watched my son go through general anaesthetic twice for major surgery related to birth anomalies so I am terrified of not doing a good enough job and him needing intervention.

When we went to visit ds’s new nursery and they mentioned that they make a big deal of teeth brushing and they do it all together I must admit to feeling delighted. Not because I wouldn’t do it anymore but hopefully my DS would see other children doing it and it would make it easier at home. That is what happened.

I know nursery workers have a lot to do, you are undervalued and underpaid but this job in particular is so helpful to me as a parent and i’d prioritise it just after making sure my DS was fed and cleaned.

[happiestcamper]

Parents are absolutely responsible for their children's teeth. Its not the fizzy drinks companies etc responsibility to change the recipe of their products its the parents responsibility to limit their children's intake and make sure they brush their teeth. Its not difficult. I have 3DC non of which have decay. Id be mortified if they did, its neglect at best

[ElphabaTheGreen]

I also agree with a PP who said you need to look at the length of time some children are in nursery - mine are/were in nursery from 7:30am until 5:30pm, five days a week. Yes, I brush morning and evening but DS2 is a kicking screamer when it comes to having his teeth brushed. Occasionally - just occasionally - I can't face the 7am histrionics and physical restraint that tooth brushing entails, and it's great peace of mind that I know he'll be getting it at nursery at some point (where he's good as gold, apparently 🙄). I wish I could be around to give my children more care myself, but I can't, so when nursery can provide it, I'm eternally grateful.

[DailyMailareDicks]

My DS went to nursery FT from 1yr old. When he was 2 they introduced toothbrushing. We shrugged and let them get on with it. We never got to the bottom of what went wrong but my happy giggly little boy turned into someone I couldn't recognise at toothbrush time after that. It took us until he was 4 1/2 to reestablish toothbrushing every morning and evening. We literally tried everything and never gave up hope. DS was too young to tell us what they did but I think it was either forced or too hard and set off an aversion to it. I wish it had been left to us to do, we only have 1 child to brush teeth with, they had 20 per room. As OP and PP's have said, how can they find the time to fit it in? If it is rushed or a child's individuality isn't taken in to account (DS has never tolerated anything with mint flavour) then it can do harm than good.

DS is 6 now, still hates mint but brushes twice a day again. It's been a really hard slog and I have cried bucketloads over this, been judged beyond belief by other parents (why don't you just make him?) and spent many hours with a stubborn DS refusing, hiding, screaming until he vomits.

If intervention is required at a nursery age I would request it is only at the 3-4age groups, where kids have enough words to vocalise any fears or issues to both parents and staff.

[opinionatedfreak]

There are always going to be kids who have dental anomalies leading to poor dentition but for the bulk of children it is poor dental hygiene.
No teeth cleaning
Going to bed with a bottle of milk/juice
Juice during the day

Most parents care passionately for their kids but make what seem like bad choices to an outsider eg. Told at signs of early decay to stop giving a bottle of milk for overnight comfort "but it helps them sleep"
Told to minimise sugary snacks "but all the others were getting sweets"

Some people also fall into pitfalls e.g. Fruit juices are not better for teeth than fuzzy drink although nutritionally they are better. Still lots of sugar!

Fruit, especially dried, is concentrated sugar just the same as sweeties. Former given as snacks a lot by caring & concerned parents.

[shaztwins1]

I work at the local NHS hospital as a dental nurse.The funding is no longer there to provide basic OH lessons.When a child is referred into us for orthodontic tmt they have to meet certain criteria to have that funded.If their oral hygiene isn't up to scratch they are sent back to their dentist to improve.We are seeing alot more children requiring extraction for decay only purposes and this does put a strain on our resources.we give those parents the information regarding diet brushing etc so we don't have to repeat another GA for the same child.We would prefer to do this before the child gets to this stage but sadly everything boils down to money.
.My trust is currently in the process of cutting myself &my colleagues pay by 20% although they expect us to do the same job for less pay.The workload has not changed in fact it has increased considerably I myself have 3 children ds1 15 has had 1 tooth removed to facilitate orthodontic TMT but I paid privately to have that done.ds2 teeth perfect also but his twin dd1 has hyperplastic molars that haven't formed correctly thus 1 is filled and a second one is looking dodgy too.my lot are fully versed in good oh (as I would beat them with a stick 😉)but some is down to genetics.Some basic OH was delivered by a dental nurse at antenatal classes back in my day but due to the massive strain on NHS all this has been cut back to the bone.
Of course it is the parents responsibility but everyone that takes a role involving children has a responsibility to safeguard that child and now decay falls under that umbrella.Bring back school programmes I say as it can only help and every parent should be told how to register with a dentist/ have help to find a dentist for their children from birth a simple leaflet from a midwife could start the ball rolling.

[PidgeonSpray]

Parents should be responsible for their kids teeth.

They probably don't give a shit as they don't pay for dentist costs

[insancerre]

Thank you everybody for sharing your thoughts and experiences
It seems that opinion is divided as to whether brushing teeth should be part of a nursery routine
I've done some research and my local authority does have a healthy smile campaign but it doesn't promote brushing teeth in settings. The nearest it gets is to advise settings to provide sinks so parents can brush their child's teeth in the setting

[insancerre]

Sorry, it's called smile 4 life