Building on success: oral health programmes to reach more children and young people across Cheshire and Merseyside
Wednesday, 4 November 2026
Thousands more children and young people across Cheshire and Merseyside are set to benefit from expanded oral health support, building on the success of programmes that are already helping children develop healthy habits and healthier smiles.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside has approved plans to continue and expand the All Together Smiling supervised toothbrushing programme and roll out the Mini Mouth Care Matters programme to children's wards across district general hospitals in the region.
The decision marks the next step in Cheshire and Merseyside's commitment to improving children's oral health and reducing inequalities, ensuring more children can access support where they learn, play and receive care.
Tooth decay remains one of the biggest health challenges facing children and young people. Despite being largely preventable, it continues to be the leading cause of hospital admission among children aged five to nine, affecting children's health, wellbeing, confidence, sleep and ability to learn.
Since launching in April 2024, All Together Smiling has helped thousands of children develop positive toothbrushing habits through supervised toothbrushing in nurseries, schools and childcare settings. The programme now supports around 18,400 children across 359 settings and has distributed over 451,000 oral health packs to families across Cheshire and Merseyside.
The programme has focused on reducing oral health inequalities by supporting children most at risk of poor oral health within the 20% most deprived areas across Cheshire and Merseyside, while working closely with families, educators and local communities to establish healthy habits that can last a lifetime.
The next phase of the programme will see support expanded for children and young people attending specialist Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) settings, helping ensure even more children can benefit from accessible, inclusive oral health support tailored to their needs.
Alongside the continued growth of All Together Smiling, Mini Mouth Care Matters will be expanded from Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust into children's wards across district general hospitals throughout Cheshire and Merseyside.
Mini Mouth Care Matters is designed to improve the oral health of children and young people during hospital admission. It helps healthcare teams incorporate oral health assessments and good mouth care into everyday hospital care, ensuring that opportunities to identify unmet oral health needs and provide support are not missed.
By embedding oral health into routine paediatric care, the programme supports healthier habits during hospital stays, helps prevent avoidable harm and provides opportunities to connect children and families with NHS dental services where additional support is needed.
Since its introduction at Alder Hey, the programme has supported more than 4,400 children and young people and provided oral health training to more than 900 healthcare professionals. The expansion will build on this success, helping embed good oral health practices in children's wards across Cheshire and Merseyside and ensuring that more families can access advice and support when they need it.
Together, the two programmes form part of a wider ambition to improve oral health from the earliest years through to specialist healthcare settings, creating a joined-up approach that supports children and families at every opportunity.
Prof. Ian Ashworth, Director of Population Health for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:
"Prevention is one of the most effective ways we can improve health outcomes for children and young people, and oral health is a vital part of that.
“The success of All Together Smiling and Mini Mouth Care Matters demonstrates the difference that early support, education and prevention can make, and we're delighted to be able to build on that success by extending support to even more children and young people across Cheshire and Merseyside.
“Together, these programmes create opportunities to support children wherever they are, whether that's in education settings, within their local communities or during a stay in hospital. By building on what has already been achieved, we can help more children develop positive oral health habits and support healthier futures."
Dr Elizabeth Crabtree, Programme Director, Beyond Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme said:
“We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved through All Together Smiling in partnership with local authorities, Public Health teams, early years and education settings, and delivery partners across Cheshire and Merseyside.
“The programme has demonstrated that, by working together, we can successfully embed prevention within everyday settings and reach thousands of children who may otherwise be at greater risk of poor oral health and wider health inequalities.
“This next phase of delivery provides an exciting opportunity to build on that success by bringing together complementary programmes and approaches to create a more joined-up oral health prevention offer for children and young people across community and hospital settings. Through continued collaboration, we can help ensure more children receive the right support at the right time, giving them the best possible start in life."
Dr Susana Dominguez-Gonzalez, Consultant Orthodontist at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, said:
“We are really pleased to have the opportunity to expand the Mini Mouth Care Matters programme across Cheshire and Merseyside, building on the work we are already doing at Alder Hey.
“When a child is in hospital, oral health can easily be overlooked, particularly when families have so many other things to think about. Through the programme, we have been working with staff on the hospital wards to make mouth care part of everyday care, helping them identify problems early and giving children, young people and families the advice and support they need.
“It has been great to see the difference the programme has made at Alder Hey, and we are looking forward to sharing what we have learned with colleagues across the region so that more children and young people can benefit.”
Families, schools and childcare providers across Cheshire and Merseyside have already highlighted the difference that consistent oral health support can make both in educational settings and at home.
Their experiences are showcased through a range of case studies and videos available on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside website, while information and resources about Mini Mouth Care Matters can be accessed through the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust website.