Recommendation 12

The new government’s commitment to contract reform includes reference to a focus on prevention,27 and also to a programme of supervised toothbrushing for three, four, and five–year olds “most in need”.28 Tooth decay is a leading cause of hospital admissions for children in this country,29 and as DHSC told us in the session, prevention is preferable to needing treatment from a dentist.30 Strengthening preventative oral healthcare measures is an important accompaniment to ensuring access to dentists, particularly for children. The government has now published further information on its proposed supervised toothbrushing scheme,31 and has confirmed its intention to expand community water fluoridation in the 20 C&AG’s Report, para 1.25 21 Q 27 22 C&AG’s Report, para 1.26 23 Q 25 24 NHS Dental Contracting Framework, 15 October 2024 25 Qq 77 and 97 26 Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care and the Chief Executive Officer at NHS England relating to a follow up on the oral evidence session held on 13 February 2025 on Fixing NHS Dentistry, 18 March 2025 27 NHS Dental Contracting Framework, 15 October 2024 28 Schools: Dental Health, answered 4 February 2025 29 C&AG’s Report, para 1.10 30 Q 18 31 DHSC, Supervised toothbrushing for children to prevent tooth decay, published 7 March 2025 11 north–east.32 However, as DHSC noted, a relatively low percentage of the UK population has water fluoridation in comparison with some other countries, and there are other measures (including fluoride varnish) that can also be highly effective at protecting teeth.33 The 2024 dental recovery plan