BrightBites Programme

We're passionate about supporting children to learn about the importance of good oral health, so they can form good habits to keep their teeth and mouths healthy.

Making children smile across the UK

In partnership with Dentaid The Dental Charity, we're on a mission to reach 90,000 school-aged children through our fun and engaging oral health education programme - BrightBites.

In 2023, 15 million* school days were missed due to dental problems. We’re committed to changing this. We’re particularly keen to provide BrightBites sessions for children experiencing health inequalities and social deprivation.

Our volunteers deliver in-person oral health education sessions and every child leaves with a toothbrush, toothpaste and a smile on their face!

Attia’s BrightBites volunteering experience

A map of the UK 'supporting communities UK-wide'

We need your support today

BrightBites is delivered across the UK thanks to our wonderful network of local volunteers and supporters.

In addition, through conversations with many of our different charity partners, we’ve identified 25 UK locations, where our support is most needed.

If you're based in or around these locations, we'd love to hear from you. Download our map to see the full list of our key focus areas.

And if you’re based outside of these areas, we’d still be delighted to hear from you.

A chart showing percentage of school children reached with the BrightBites Programme

Tracking our progress with the Smile-o-meter

Since expanding our BrightBites Programme in 2024, we've been tracking our progress as we aim to reach 90,000 school-aged children across the UK.

The smiles just keep coming!

Figures last updated: 31st October 2024

Image description: Up to 31st October 2024 our current total is 29.517

BrightBites volunteer with primary school children

Helpful resources

A BrightBites volunteer showing primary school children how to brush teeth

Resources

BrightBites resources for teachers

BrightBites resources for teachers include classroom activities, lesson plans and experiments that are designed to work alongside the curriculum and enhance our BrightBites sessions.

Mother and son with toothbrushes checking teeth in mirror

Resources

BrightBites resources for parents or carers

Alongside our BrightBites sessions every child receives toothbrushing charts, stickers, recipes and healthy teeth leaflets, to educate and inform the whole family. They are a great way of continuing your child's positive oral health journey at home.

Interested in volunteering for BrightBites?

Denplan's Head of Denplan Partnerships, Elliot Littlechild, delivered a BrightBites session at Park Community School, Havant in April 2024:

I enjoyed every minute of swapping the Denplan Boardroom for the BrightBites classroom. The children loved the opportunity to be interactive with the mouth models and we had some interesting questions that kept me on my toes.

I'd highly recommend anyone to volunteer and deliver a BrightBites session - the kids and school were so grateful for our visit and the free toothbrushes and toothpaste!

- Elliot Littlechild, Head of Denplan Partnerships

Interested in volunteering? Sign up here