CHILDREN in Basingstoke and Deane certainly have something to smile about.

Dental health among children in north Hampshire is significantly better than average when compared with the rest of the country - and it is also the best in the county.

Locally, between 25 and 27 per cent of five-year-olds have decayed, missing or filled teeth, compared with 39 per cent nationally.

The oral health of north Hampshire children also tops that of those in the rest of Hampshire, with 75 per cent of five-year-olds having no teething troubles.

There are, however, pockets of areas where the dental situation is less healthy.

At 11 out of 67 schools in north Hampshire, the average pupil has 1.3 decayed, missing or filled teeth.

This is against an average in north Hampshire of 0.81, and a national target of 1.

The figures come from the latest national children's dental health survey and have been reported to north Hampshire's health bosses.

Femi Oduneye, director of public health at North Hampshire Primary Care Trust, said: "The bottom line is that the oral health for the population here is generally good.

"However, there are still pockets of areas that do not meet the national target for oral health, and so require focused attention.

"There are measures we can put in place in schools that we know are doing worse than others in terms of dental health, such as educating about the importance of good food and exercise, raising awareness of tooth brushing and reducing smoking."

The last dental health survey of five-year-olds was carried out in 2002 and another survey is due this year.

North Hampshire PCT has agreed recommendations for improving dental health, which include focusing on preventative measures such as running programmes on diet improvements, reducing smoking and cutting down alcohol misuse in schools where dental hygiene is less good.

First published: Thursday, April 13, 2006