BRIGHT for young people
In the BRIGHT trial, we investigated whether secondary school pupils who had a lesson at school and then received text messages twice every day about toothbrushing had healthier teeth than pupils who did not.
Why we did the trial
Tooth decay is common among pupils in secondary schools - in fact, 4 in 10 have at least one decayed tooth. It can cause pupils to feel pain in their teeth, making eating and sleeping difficult.
What we did
In total, 4,680 pupils aged 11-14 took part in the study, from 42 schools across the UK.
Some pupils were given a school lesson about brushing their teeth. They were also sent text messages twice a day reminding them to brush.
The pupils all had their teeth checked at the start of the project and again around three years later. We were looking to see whether the pupils who got text messages brushed their teeth more and had less tooth decay.
Finally, we asked teachers and pupils what they thought about the lesson and the text messages.
Findings
You can read our findings for yourself by following the link below.
Remember to brush your teeth!
We are grateful to the pupils and schools who helped with this project and we hope to do more projects in future. We think all schools should keep teaching pupils about ways to keep their teeth healthy.