NHS-funded scheme provides free toothpaste and brushes while training nursery staff to help children look after their teeth, reports Leah Renz

Toothbrushing (credit Roman Marchenko via Unsplash) — Photo by Roman Marchenko on Unsplash

More than 60 nurseries in Enfield borough have now introduced toothbrushing programmes to tackle poor oral hygiene in children.

The move follows a 2025 report by NHS England revealing tooth decay to be the leading cause of hospital admissions in children aged from five to nine years. In Enfield, last year a council report revealed the borough’s children had the worst teeth in London.

The oral hygiene scheme provides toothbrushes, toothpaste and healthy food and drinks to nurseries, while training to staff. The nurseries chosen are in areas of “highest deprivation” – mostly in the east of the borough.

It is funded by North Central London Integrated Care Board (ICB), using a targeted grant from the government’s Department of Health and Social Care.

The programme has been “very well received” according to Enfield Council’s director of public health, Dudu Sher Arami, who spoke at an equalities board meeting at Enfield Civic Centre on Monday (1st).

Conservative councillor Ruby Sampson, however, challenged the director on the capacity of nurseries to provide toothbrushing programmes, citing her own experience as a school teaching assistant and claiming that encouraging all her pupils to brush their teeth “would take half a day”.

Arami admitted that “some [settings] have been challenged because of capacity” and therefore declined taking part in the scheme.

Nonetheless, she hopes the programme enrollment will double to 120 nurseries by the start of April 2026.

Other initiatives tackling tooth decay in Enfield include training workshops in schools, run by the Whittington Health NHS Foundation Trust, and a ‘Good Food Retail’ scheme which aims to replace fatty and sugary snacks and drinks in convenience stores with healthier alternatives.

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