In my daily practice as a dentist, I spent most of my time seeing young children. Extracting teeth in children as young as four on a regular basis, was an overwhelming and upsetting experience. Not just for me, but for the parents, and most importantly, the young child.

It didn’t take long to be saddened by the high decay rate I was diagnosing and treating. I realised one day I no longer wanted to treat the pain, or the cavity itself, but instead, stop it from happening in the first place. 

I knew I could have a greater impact on children’s oral health by spreading the message about prevention. Reaching many more children and families than I could possibly see in a clinical setting. 

What I found most surprising, was the lack of awareness on how best to look after our teeth and minimise risk of cavities. Most people know they need to “brush their teeth” and “limit sugar” but there is so much more we need to be doing from a young age.