Abstract
The Community Dental Services of Barts Health NHS Trust in City and Hackney and Tower Hamlets PCTs in East London have provided a school-based oral health intervention since 2009. The aim of this paper is to present the programme development, outcomes and evaluation. The programme consists of fluoride varnish (FV) applications linked to school dental screenings for three- to six-year-olds, combined with oral health promotion for parents/carers. An outreach linkworker works closely with schools to help identify and support vulnerable families into the programme. In the first year of the programme 160 of the target children (42%) had one FV application and 81 children (21%) had two applications. In the second year 149 children (39%) had one FV application, and 113 (29%) had two applications. Amendments to the protocol increased programme participation in the third year, with 1,822 of the target children (61%) having one FV application and 1,586 (53%) having two applications. The programme proved acceptable to the school staff, participating parents/carers and children. The Happy Teeth programme is proposed as a model for school-based fluoride varnish programmes.
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