PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Dental Health (22 June 2022)

Local authorities are responsible for funding and commissioning oral health interventions for the local population, including tooth brushing campaigns in schools. Public health services commissioned by local authorities in England are funded through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant. In 2022/23, the Public Health Grant to local authorities is £3.417 billion.

No recent national evaluation of the effectiveness of existing local authority-led tooth brushing programmes has been made. The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities regularly reviews the available evidence on the effectiveness of measures to promote oral health, including supervised tooth brushing. This includes evidence from schemes in England and in other parts of the United Kingdom.