Shropshire Community Dental Services

05/08/2026

🩷 World Breastfeeding Week 2026 🩷

This World Breastfeeding Week, alongside the excellent advice from the Breastfeeding Network, we’re sharing some simple ways to help your little one develop a healthy toothbrushing routine from the very start. 🦷✨

✔️ Start brushing as soon as the first tooth appears - brush twice a day, with the most important brush being last thing at night and one other time during the day.

✔️ Use the right amount of toothpaste - a smear for children under 3 years old and a pea-sized amount for everyone aged 3 and over.

✔️ Choose toothpaste containing 1450ppm fluoride - this provides the best protection against tooth decay. Check the toothpaste tube or packaging for the fluoride level.

✔️ Spit, don’t rinse! - rinsing with water or mouthwash washes away the protective fluoride left on the teeth.

✔️ Keep helping with brushing until age 7 - children need support to reach all the tricky areas, especially at the back of the mouth.

💚 Building healthy habits early can help protect little smiles for life.

👶🦷 Check back tomorrow for more top tips, focusing on oral health for both mum and baby.

03/08/2026

31/07/2026

We have some more fabulous news for you this week. 🥳

⭐️ We now have over 6,400 residents in 159 care homes taking part across all four areas and those who successfully meet the Care to Smile quality standards criteria will now go on to receive a Care to Smile award for their home. ⭐️

Have you heard of our Care to Smile programme?
Following on from the publication of the NICE guideline (NG48): Oral Health for Adults in Care Homes in 2016 an initial Care to Smile pilot was set up to support and improve the oral health of residents in both residential and nursing homes.

Following the success of this pilot, the programme has been rolled out across:
📍 Staffordshire
📍 Stoke-on-Trent
📍 Shropshire
📍 Telford & Wrekin

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all settings taking part, we are so proud of you for taking up this initiative and making the oral health of your residents a priority. 🦷 🪥

30/07/2026

⭐️ Fabulous news! We are really pleased to share that we have over 150 targeted day nurseries, schools and SEND provisions now participating in our Brilliant Brushers supervised toothbrushing programme.

There are over 9,300 children in 156 settings being supported to brush their teeth in nursery or school as well as at home.

🦷 Brilliant Brushers is an evidence-based supervised toothbrushing programme, supporting little ones to develop healthy habits that last a lifetime 🩵

We are proud to offer this programme to eligible nurseries, schools and SEND provisions across:
📍 Staffordshire
📍 Stoke-on-Trent
📍 Shropshire
📍 Telford & Wrekin

Well done to all you Brilliant Brushers out there. You know who you are 😃

Together, we are helping to create brighter smiles and healthier futures every day ⭐️

28/07/2026

This is the side of oral health education that rarely gets noticed - the quiet, hands‑on work that keeps our Brilliant Brushers smiling.

Yesterday, our one of Oral Health Improvement Practitioners travelled all across Stoke‑on‑Trent with banners, charts, stickers, certificates, toolkits and EYFS resources in hand… all to help two new nurseries begin their Brilliant Brushers journey with initial training and to support another setting with their annual QA.

Every box packed, every banner replaced, every resource shared is a small act of care that helps children and their families build healthy habits for life.

This is how we empower communities - one routine, one nursery or school, one child at a time. 🪥🦷😊

24/07/2026

💙🦷 A big thank you to all our amazing new and existing care homes across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin who recently attended the Care to Smile – Mouth Care Lead training session with Caroline at Partners in Care. 👏🏡

It was fantastic to see mouth care leads from new and established homes taking part in the training, helping them to deliver high-quality mouth care for their residents:

✨Oxbow Manor Care Home
✨Churchill House Care Home
✨Old Rectory Care Home
✨Radbrook Nursing Home
✨Hatton Court Care Home

By equipping staff with knowledge and confidence to provide good mouth care, we are helping to improve health, comfort and wellbeing for residents every day 💙

22/07/2026

Find a dentist near you on the NHS website for routine and urgent dental care. Check opening times, contact details and facilities.

20/07/2026

💙🦷 A big thank you to all our amazing new and existing care homes across Staffordshire, who attended the Care to Smile – Mouth Care Lead training sessions with Charles recently at Staffordshire Place 1 👏🏡

We are delighted to welcome 2 new homes to the programme:
✨ Silverdale Nursing Home
✨ Staffordshire Specialist Care Centre

It was also fantastic to see mouth care leads from our existing homes attending update training, ensuring they can continue to deliver high-quality mouth care for their residents:
✨Park Lane Care Home
✨Briar House Care Home
✨Weston & Queensway Care Home
✨Edge View Nursing Home
✨Burton, Bridge & Trent Court
✨Needwood House Nursing Home
✨Barton House Care Home

By supporting staff with the knowledge and confidence to deliver good mouth care, we are helping to improve health, comfort and wellbeing for residents every day 💙

17/07/2026

“Packed with sugar and highly acidic, dentists have seen the damage energy drinks do every day," says Eddie Crouch.

“The result is children struggling to eat, to sleep and to learn."

"Taking them off the menu for under 16s is a victory for common sense."