Sir, dental caries is, in 2015, still a pressing public health matter in Great Britain,1 as well as here in Australia and worldwide. I was an NHS dentist (1958–1980) and always very busy treating caries. In 1980 I returned to Australia, recommencing practice but retiring in 1991 until, in July 1996, our granddaughter was diagnosed with early decay in an upper anterior tooth. Angrily I committed myself to this mission: Prevent oral diseases in children.

In January 1997 I was appointed as District Dental Officer, East Arnhem Land, in the remote tropical Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. In early 2001, during a recording annual DMFT in a NT district school, for the third consecutive year I observed the 6-7-year-old classroom's mouths were caries free! The conversation I then had with their two teachers explained why. I was told that these pupils had been served breakfast before the first lesson. Then after squeezing toothpaste onto their toothbrushes they were told to 'go outside to the water troughs, brush your teeth and rinse...and rinse and rinse your brush under the tap'. The teachers implied by the first 'rinse' to rinse your mouth, but the children misinterpreted that statement and literally rinsed... and rinsed and rinsed the brush under the tap! Of course, what they had unknowingly left in their mouths were the active ingredients in the toothpaste! Serendipity had stepped-in to maintain their dental health!

The concept evolved over time and in 2007 I renamed the approach: 'treat your whole mouth'. Since then, finding that children respond very keenly to the notion of painting, it has become 'paint your mouth'. My experience shows that this really does dramatically reduce DMFT. Inspired by this I have produced a series of eBooks for not only children but also adults. These are designed to be educating, entertaining and interactive.2 Special needs and vulnerable children would also greatly benefit from this simple yet cost-effective approach.3