Health officials are urging local authorities to take action to prevent children as young as three suffering from severe tooth decay.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced new guidelines to tackle the problem, in a bid to reduce the amount of young children suffering from tooth decay and gum disease – two of the most common, and largely preventable, dental problems.
Tooth decay can be painful, and in cases, can lead to the need for surgery under general anaesthetic to remove decayed teeth.
However, children can be prevented from such problems through effective oral hygiene habits and healthy diets.
According to NICE, standards of oral health vary widely, particularly among younger children. This was highlighted in a recent Public Health England survey, which found that in areas such as Leicester, more than a third of children showed signs of tooth decay, compared with just two per cent in other parts of the country.
The organisation’s new guidance is aimed at schools, nurseries and local authorities, who are advised to consider supervised tooth-brushing and fluoride varnishing schemes for areas where children are at high risk of poor oral health.
Professor Mike Kelly, Director of the Centre for Public Health at NICE, said, ‘Children as young as three are being condemned to a life with rotten teeth, gum disease and poor health going into adulthood.
‘Many children have poor diets and poor mouth hygiene because there is misunderstanding about the importance of looking after children’s early milk teeth and gums.
‘They eat too much sugar and don’t clean their teeth with fluoride toothpaste. As a society we should help parents and carers give their children the best start in life and act now to stop the rot before it starts.’
New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines advise parents to only administer painkillers if their child appears distressed, in a bid to reduce their medication intake and visits to the doctor
Pregnancy Happy Hour – our drop-in group for pregnant women on Friday evenings from 5-6:30 – is one of my favourite times of the week. I love sitting with the moms-to-be and chatting about how they are feeling, how their lives are changing through the pregnancy. I love hearing their questions and helping them to find answers. I love how the moms bond with each other and form friendships which see them not only through the pregnancy, but on into motherhood. We talk about the joys and challenges of pregnancy, their concerns and plans about labour and birth and their dreams for motherhood.
One of the things I think helps the group work really well, it that it’s just for women. Groups of women often achieve intimacy very quickly, and Pregnancy Happy Hour is no exception. But I am often asked by the women and their partners, if the partners couldn’t be invited along to the group sometimes, as a special event. And I though Valentine’s Day was a good time for that to happen.
So on Friday February 15, we are inviting the partners to come to Pregnancy Happy Hour and we are going to have a special guest. Michele Mork of West Coast Reflexology will be coming to teach us all some fabulous foot massage techniques. And lest you think this is just a sneaky way to get our partners to rub our feet, I assure you, the partners will get their feet rubbed too. After all Valentine’s is about spreading the love to ALL.
Pregnancy Happy Hour costs $2, and we will put out a donation jar for contributions to Michele’s fee. A $5 contribution (per couple) is suggested.
Well, of course, I have been blogging for years: writing short essays for my website on topics that I hoped would be useful to my clients and my colleagues. But now Mothering Touch has an actual Official Blog. This is a little intimidating. And yet, so much happens here every day of the week, I should never have trouble finding something to write about.
Right now, in the big activity room, Do Stier, a Doula Trainer for Vancouver, is running our annual DONA-International Post-Partum Doula Training. Fifteen enthusiastic and caring women are learning how to help mothers and families in the Post-partum period (the first six weeks after birth). Last week I ran a DONA-International Birth Doula Training and twelve new birth doulas have now joined our birthing community. One of my trainees, came from as far away as Edmonton!
A couple of moms with their babies, on a stroll downtown, have popped in to nurse on the comfy brown couches in our smaller back room. That back room – officially called the Resource Room (now "The Nest"!) – is one of my favourite things about this place. We planned it as a room for breastfeeding consultations and private prenatal classes. It houses our lending library which contains books and DVD’s on pregnancy, breastfeeding and early parenting. The room also gets used for meetings of local community organization, like the Doulas of Victoria or Breastfeeding Matters. And on most days, a few mothers and fathers and babies find their way there for a quiet time and a peaceful breastfeeding moment.
Tonight, when we’ve tidied up from the four-day doula training, there will be a prenatal yoga class in the Activity Room. Elke will lead the lovely round-bellied moms through invigorating and then relaxing poses. After that, I will teach the fourth class of six-week Childbirth Preparation Class for Doctors’ Patients. Having spent the last three weeks learning about childbirth and natural self-help and coping measures for labour, tonight we will examine pain medications and other medical interventions. I look forward to seeing this group of excited parents-to-be, whose questions and curiosity always make the evening lively.
I hope this this blog can become an extension of our store – a place where new and expectant parents can be sure of a friendly welcome and balanced information. We hope you’ll visit us often.