Students brushing up on their smiles

By ANGELA GREGORY

When the lunchbreak ends at Waikare Primary, it is not pencils the pupils grab but toothbrushes.

Brushing their teeth is as much a part of the school day for the 30 children as brushing up on their spelling.

The daily routine at the tiny Northland school, east of Kawakawa, was instigated by a local Maori health provider, Hauora Whanui.

School principal Don Spice said there had been concern about the number of children with serious tooth decay. Some had never used a toothbrush at home and others suffered from poor diets or inadequate and irregular brushing.

"We certainly have parents not taking as much care of their children's wellbeing as they should."

The problems were compounded by households having to rely on tank water and by a shortage of dental therapists.

"We only get a dental nurse here every 12 months, when it should be every six months."

The lunchtime brush-up has been running for two years, but the tooth decay has continued, to the disappointment of Mr Spice.

After consultation with the community, the school now wants to introduce fluoride tablets in a pilot programme.

"At the end of the day, the tooth brushing is impacting on class time," Mr Spice said.

The Ministry of Health this year reported that Northland children had the highest rate of tooth decay in the country, and nearly 80 were waiting to go to Whangarei Hospital to have their milk teeth removed.

There was also a national shortage of dental therapists, from 900 in 1990 to about 550 today.

A public health dentist, Dr Bob McKegg, said tooth decay was a major problem in Northland because the region lacked fluoridated water supplies.

"There is a very vocal group of people who oppose it up here."

But Dr McKegg, a fluoride advocate, said fluoridation was very cost-effective as it saved adult dental costs in later years.

For isolated rural schools the issue would always be problematic as they relied on tank water, not town supply.

Dr McKegg said he was encouraged by the efforts made at Waikare Primary School. Similar schemes had worked brilliantly in the Pacific Islands.

An anti-fluoride campaigner, Tony Gillion, said fluoridation of water supplies removed choice and its benefits for dental hygiene were exaggerated.