dental checks in pre-school

[blondie]

hi has anyone else received a letter from their public service health team advising them that they will be coming into their setting to undertake a dental examination on all children attending their setting?

they will send us letters to send out to parents/carers for permission for them to do this then a date will be set when a trained dentist and nurse will come into the setting and each child will in turn be asked to lay on a table to have their teeth examined - a sterilised dental mirror and light will be used for each child - parents will then be informed by letter as to whether their child has dental decay so they can get treatment

apparently this dental survey will take place all over england during the school year 2012/2013 so expect your letter soon!

i am going into my setting today to try and work out where and how i will do this lol x

[Mouseketeer]

Not us, in fact we had a letter saying the service where we used to be able to ask them to come in and talk to the children is no longer available

 

If they can do this maybe they could re-instate the nit nurse !

Edited October 24, 2012 by mouse63

[Cait]

Are you a school nursery? Not heard of this in the voluntary sector up here

[finleysmaid]

No and i would be refusing it...are you sure this is a reliable source?? I would be checking this out really well it seems VERY strange and as a parent i would have refused for my children to be part of this. There have been safeguarding cases like this before.......please check it out !

[catma]

There have always been dental screenings in the past - I've done loads in schools I've worked in. The community oral health teams work a lot through children's centres and other early childhood services so I'm not clear why this (assuming it is and it would be easily verifiable through your community team) I would think)would be seen as a threat?

 

Cx

[Fredbear]

I am not sure I am in favour of this in the first instance. If it was more about a dental hygienist coming in to share with children and parents about dental care, then that's different. We have done this in the past. But i am not keen on children being screened/examined at our packaway setting. Will be interested in following this thread.

[JacquieL]

This is normal and as far back as I can remember there has been dental screening once each year in the maintained sector done by the Community Dental Service which it seems this letter is from. I have worked in four LA's and it has been the same in each, including special schools. Parents sign a consent form and if the child needs treatment a letter goes to the parent informing them, and they then choose where to have this done, or not! I have always thought it was an excellent thing, and it seems a shame that it obviously hasn't been the norm in some LA's. There used to be eye screening as well but that was sadly withdrawn a few years ago. Some children were picked up early enough for remedial action to be taken.

[Inge]

I too see it as a positive move, i have never had it offered in a setting but my son was always checked while at primary school, a letter was sent with consent to be given and they had a van at the school for a day to check all.. back then it was done once a year.. and they returned a week later to do any treatment too..pity this stopped in budget cuts.

 

How many parents do take children of this age to a dentist.. is it not better to ensure all who want a check get one... and to be honest it can be a lot easier in a setting that trying to get them to open their mouth in a dentists.. My son would never open his mouth with me there .. but on his own or with someone else was ok.. or doing the same as his peers and seeing others having the same.. he was scared of the unknown, seeing it done helped him to join in. A check had to be a benefit.

[Guest]

I've never heard of this being done in our area. We are a pre-school setting and I have never recieved any information about this? Should be informed about this by somebody?

[sunnyday]

Not offered in my area (yet?) - we do have a super dental hygienist who visits once a year - I am always amazed at how few of 'my' children have been to a dentist when my boys were small we just took them along to our check ups and then as soon as they had some teeth they had a check up too :1b no big deal really - mind you in those days (the olden days!) there were not such exorbitant dental charges :blink:

[finleysmaid]

replied to this quickly this am....just want to say i do not have a problem with oral hygienist coming in, but in my experience at pre-school this is normally a talk about tooth brushing etc it is not an examination....what worried me about the post is that they say the children will be laid on a table. I'm sorry but i don't think this is right or acceptable, i think the likleyhood is that this could cause children to be afraid of dentists and cause issues in the future. I can't see any of my children with sen or eal being happy about this if i was unable to explain what was happening and most of my children are only just settling . I had some really serious dental issues as a child and they were not handled well resulting in me having to be sedated to get me to go Having someone poke around in your mouth is a serious invasion of your privacy.

Just me opinion and a word of caution. Handled well it could work well, handled badly........???!!!

[sunnyday]

replied to this quickly this am....just want to say i do not have a problem with oral hygienist coming in, but in my experience at pre-school this is normally a talk about tooth brushing etc it is not an examination....what worried me about the post is that they say the children will be laid on a table. I'm sorry but i don't think this is right or acceptable, i think the likleyhood is that this could cause children to be afraid of dentists and cause issues in the future. I can't see any of my children with sen or eal being happy about this if i was unable to explain what was happening and most of my children are only just settling . I had some really serious dental issues as a child and they were not handled well resulting in me having to be sedated to get me to go Having someone poke around in your mouth is a serious invasion of your privacy.

Just me opinion and a word of caution. Handled well it could work well, handled badly........???!!!

 

Hi finleysmaid - just wanted to say that I can see where you're coming from........

 

At primary school they have a 'van' now i could see how that could be made quite exciting as long as a whole group of 4 or 5 children could go 'out' to the van......

 

It is the being 'laid on a table' that I have an 'issue' with too

Edited October 24, 2012 by sunnyday

[catma]

They generally sat on a chair not on a table for the ones I've been involved with and the dentist was very calming- if children were not happy they would let them watch and get comfortable. We did pre work about opening our mouths wide and looking in the mirror before the check. (These were nursery age).

 

Cx

[sunnyday]

They generally sat on a chair not on a table for the ones I've been involved with and the dentist was very calming- if children were not happy they would let them watch and get comfortable. We did pre work about opening our mouths wide and looking in the mirror before the check. (These were nursery age).

 

Cx

 

That sounds far more 'acceptable'........

[finleysmaid]

That sounds far more 'acceptable'........

yes agreed...i think it's the table thing that's freaking me out...dont like the idea of adults over the top of children....makes me feel utterly uncomfortable (perhaps i'm wierd!)

[sunnyday]

yes agreed...i think it's the table thing that's freaking me out...dont like the idea of adults over the top of children....makes me feel utterly uncomfortable (perhaps i'm wierd!)

 

I don't think that you are in the slightest bit weird :1b

[finleysmaid]

haha not what my staff would say!

[JacquieL]

I did think the table business sounded a bit weird myself, unless they mean a dentists chair and tables are certainly not what I have seen over the last 30 years. In my experience the children have lined up and the check has been a simple look into their mouths with a mirror, the dentist wearing non latex gloves. The dentist has been someone used to dealing with young children in the same way that we are, and anyone who has been really fearful has not been forced to take part. Staff have always been with the children as well and of course been encouraging and able to mention to the dentist any concerns. These dentists are people do this every day and I don't envy them their job, being someone who hates the dentist. As community dentists they are highly trained professionals used to dealing with young chlildren and children with SEN. At the end of fhe day helping children be less fearful, dealing with dental health and avoiding the really serious consequences if children are not treated, can only be a good thing. Most children can be been happy to co-operate as they have seen their peers doing the same.

I would assume that professional people can do their job, as we do, unless I saw otherwise.

[catma]

I agree re table idea - never ever seen it done any other way than the chair!!