Skip to main content

National Smile Month 2025

For National Smile Month 2025, we’re focusing on the powerful connection between diet and oral health with our theme, Feed Your Smile.

Your diet plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy, beautiful smile, and we want to help you make smart choices that promote oral health every day.

You can find more information on National Smile Month 2025 here.

Top tips for children’s oral health

Brushing your baby’s teeth

Baby teeth need brushing too! Start as soon as the first tooth appears.

Usually this is at around six months, but it can be earlier or later.

Use a smear of children’s fluoride toothpaste containing no less than 1,000ppm of fluoride (check label) with a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Reducing sugar in your child’s diet

Help reduce tooth decay by cutting down on sugar. 

Lollipops and sweet drinks in a formula bottle are particularly damaging, because they bathe the teeth in sugar for long periods of time. The acid in drinks like fruit juice and squash can harm teeth as well.

The best drinks for young children are plain milk and water.

The Change4Life Food Scanner app is free and is a super simple way of checking how much sugar is in your kids’ favourite treats.

Simply download the app and scan the barcode. Download today.

Brush twice a day for two minutes

Encourage children to brush twice daily.

It should be the last thing your child does before bedtime and should occur on one other occasion during the day.

Make tooth brushing as fun as possible by using an egg timer or a toothbrushing app to time it for about 2 minutes.

Dental care for children is FREE

NHS dental care is free for all children.

Making a regular trip to the dentist will ensure that your child can have a lifetime of smiles.

Find an NHS dentist near you: www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

Start early and make dental hygiene fun

Start brushing your baby’s teeth as soon as the first milk tooth breaks through. 

Usually this is at around six months, but it can be earlier or later.

Use a smear of children’s fluoride toothpaste containing no less than 1,000ppm of fluoride (check label) with a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Taking your child to the dentist

Did you know children get free dental care on the NHS?

Take your child to the dentist when their first milk teeth appear or by the age of one. This is so they become familiar with the environment and get to know the dentist.  

The dentist can advise you on how to prevent decay and identify any oral health problems at an early stage.

Oral health resources