The following handy tips have been provided by Julie Smith and are based on 'Delivering Better Oral Health' - an evidence based toolkit for prevention, published by the Government.

• To promote and maintain good oral health everyone should clean their teeth and gums twice a day with suitable strength fluoride toothpaste - ideally last thing at night and at one other time during the day.

• Spit out excess toothpaste after brushing but do not rinse out - this allows the toothpaste to soak into the teeth for maximum benefit.

• Limit sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes only. Sugars should not be consumed more than four times a day.

• Ditch the fags! Smoking makes teeth to turn yellow, increases the chance of gum disease, causes bad breath. You are also at a considerably higher risk of developing mouth cancer.

And the following advice is tailor made for children.

• Start them early. Brushing should start as soon as the first little tooth pokes through the skin. This encourages good habits in adult life.

• It’s advised that children under three years should use a toothpaste containing no less than 1,000 ppm fluoride. 

• Children should have an adult watching them brush their teeth as this makes sure that the child is brushing all their teeth and gums (not just the front ones or the surfaces!) and also that they are not eating or licking toothpaste! Toothpaste is great for beating dental decay but not as good for a meal!

• Children under three years should use no more than a smear of toothpaste (a thin film of paste covering less than three-quarters of the brush)

• Children between three and six years should use no more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.

For review February 2013