Letters to the Editor

Royal College of Surgeons e-learning module: children's oral health advice

An emphasis on the health and wellbeing of children is placed in the NHS Long Term Plan¹ as children and young people represent a third of our country, and will, therefore, determine our future. Oral health promotion in preventive healthcare is essential as tooth decay still remains the most common reason for hospital admissions of 5–9 year olds in England, resulting in over 25,000 children aged 5–9 years being admitted to hospital in 2018–2019. This is more than double those for acute tonsillitis, which is the second highest reason for hospital admissions in this age group.² There is a high need for effective preventive strategies to be employed because dental decay is almost entirely preventable.

The use of digital technology plays an important role in the future of healthcare and is a viable and easily accessible mode of information transfer for our patients and general public.³ Through integration of a digital platform and dental education, an e-learning module on ‘Children's oral health advice’⁴ was created in 2019 to promote oral health advice for parents, early year workers and the general public. Existing preventive strategies were included as part of knowledge translation. Strategies incorporated within the module include the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry Dental Check by One (DCby1) campaign,⁵ which encourages children to be taken for a dental check-up before their first birthday, Baby buddy,⁶ a free healthcare app providing parents and parents-to-be with general and dental health advice for themselves and their baby and Brush DJ,⁷ which encourages users to brush their teeth for 2 minutes while listening to music from their devices. Pictorial aids from the change4life⁸ campaign were also included to support the information on the e-learning slides. Furthermore, basic prevention and management of dental trauma, tooth erosion and thumb/finger sucking were also encompassed. Inclusion of these existing preventive tools has enhanced the general public's familiarity with these important health messages.

Photographs and simple terminology used throughout the module allows improved accessibility, while the question-and-answer slides promote interaction and test users' knowledge. A pdf summary is available to print granting schools, early-years workers and parents reliable information in an easy-to-read format. Dental practices could also use this as a free information booklet for patients and parents.

This 20–30 minute e-learning module demonstrates collaboration with a wide range of organizations and preventive initiatives to provide a holistic bite-size education tool with consistent children's oral health advice. The freely available module is accessible via search engines and websites including: Royal College of Surgeons of England, e-Learning for Healthcare and UCL, and since its launch, the module has been serving as a beneficial tool in promoting oral health within our community.