Nurse launches channel to show benefits of brushing

A DENTAL nurse from Woodcote has launched a YouTube channel to educate children about oral health.

Amy Beckwith, 40, who lives in the centre of the village, identified a need for engaging videos to encourage people to look after themselves.

She drew from her experience as a mother of three children, aged 16, 17 and 18, and their anxieties of attending the dentist.

Mrs Beckwith, who works at Croft House Dental Surgery in Wallingford, also treats children within the practice and makes weekly school visits.

She hopes to reduce the number of children suffering with tooth decay, which is the leading cause of hospital admissions among children aged five to nine in England.

From 2024 to 2025 there were more than 21,000 hospital admissions with tooth decay.

Mrs Beckwith, who qualified and joined the National Examining Board for Dental Nurses in 2018, came up with the idea for an online channel after writing an interactive book.

She wrote but did not publish Amy the Toothling — Let’s learn about teeth to help children learn fine motor skills so that they can use a toothbrush effectively.

Realising the potential to make the initiative more interactive for both children and parents, she set up the Amy the Tooth Lady YouTube channel.

Mrs Beckwith said: “I feel really passionate about children’s oral health as the statistics relating to tooth decay are quite worrying.

“I wanted to do something to help children learn and understand why brushing twice a day is so important.

“Dentistry has changed so much throughout the years and it shouldn’t be a scary experience but a positive thing for young children.

“In the practice, children sometimes bring teddies in and I normally give teddy a check-up too — anything to keep the child calm and familiar with the practice.”

Mrs Beckwith’s videos use animated characters, such as Toothling, which she uses to target children aged three to seven. Her first 10-minute episode, Why We Brush Our Teeth, explains the importance of good oral health by reducing bacteria and plaque through effective brushing.

It includes a two-minute story at the end of the video, which doubles as a brushing timer.

Mrs Beckwith said: “Each episode, released every Sunday, is about making children comfortable, aware and familiar with oral health.

“The next episode is about how to brush your teeth, with others being about baby teeth, wobbly teeth and getting your adult teeth.

“Special episodes will be released with themes on Halloween and going back to school, with all having free downloadable links.”

Mrs Beckwith hopes that by encouraging parents to teach their children about teeth health and hygiene from a young age, it will help remove the stigma about attending routine check-ups.

She said: “The main aim is to highlight the importance of oral health and taking your children to see the dentist.

“When they come in from a younger age, they’re acclimatised to the environment and it removes that stigma and reduces the preventable statistics around kids’ tooth decay by starting with good daily habits at home.”

As the idea continues to develop, she hopes to aim the channel at older age groups.

Mrs Beckwith said: “I want to grow the channel to target children aged seven and older, going into more detail and providing more scientific information.”

She designs, shoots and edits her content using her Apple iPad in her garage set-up, learning as she goes along.

Mrs Beckwith said: “I do everything myself, from the characters to the stories, filming and editing. I am still making mistakes but I’m learning.

“When I created Toothling as the main character my creativity just took off.

“I just kept adding more characters, such as sugar bugs to explain plaque and bacteria, illustrating to children in a way that they wouldn’t feel scared or worried.”

To subscribe to her channel, search for AmytheToothLady on YouTube.