At the start of Sugar Awareness Week (13–19 November 2023)1, BSPD’s President, Professor Paula Waterhouse wrote to the new Secretary of State for Health & Social care to congratulate her on the new position, but also asking for the Government’s dental recovery plan. Specifically, BSPD would like to know that Rt. Hon. Victoria Atkins MP will support measures to reduce the sugar content in drinks and food marketed at children. The Society also asked for reassurance that despite recent media reports about a possible conflict-of-interest (The Times 13.11.23 “Victoria Atkins: meet the new health secretary and her sugar boss husband”), that there is no risk of such a conflict.

BSPD’s policy document on dental neglect in children, which was originally developed and published in 2009, has now been updated and published as an open-access paper in the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry (IJPD).1 The original dental neglect policy followed Child Protection and the Dental Team, which was a significant document that first raised awareness in the UK of dental neglect, and was the point at which the urgent need for guidance for dental professionals was recognised.

BSPD has issued advice to members to open up conversations about vaccinations as reports of measles cases increase across the UK. The Society’s advice is to highlight the evidence-based risk, explain this to families in the context of NHS guidelines1 and to signpost parents and carers of unvaccinated children to their GP or health visitor. BSPD believes that as part of ‘Making Every Contact Count’ (MECC) and our commitment to provide holistic care for our patients, that this is the ideal opportunity for dentists to play their role.

Today’s Labour Party announcement proposing a supervised toothbrushing scheme to target three, four and five year olds in the twenty percent most deprived areas in England is warmly received by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). Based on the CORE20 part of the CORE20PLUS5 CYP1 initiative, the costed and funded proposal would see children attending schools and nurseries in areas of socioeconomic deprivation receiving supervised toothbrushing and a supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste to take home.

Today BSPD launches a set of infographics with the Top 3 tips for preventing tooth decay aimed at improving oral health which have now been translated into the five languages identified by the CORE20PLUS5 CYP1 initiative - as targeting the most vulnerable children in the UK. This infographic project was conceived during the Presidency term of Dr Jenny Harris (now BSPD Past President) to support children and families most in need with simple, clear prevention messages. The aim is that the infographics will be widely used by both dental and non-dental healthcare professionals to support conversations about good oral health behaviours and become a key tool for in-surgery preventive advice.