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Article History

Received: 5 November 2024

Revised: 12 December 2024

Accepted: 30 December 2024

First Online: 6 June 2025

Ethics declaration

: RO and DL are both members of the North East CWF network and, in accordance with the evidence base, support the use of CWF as a safe and effective method of protecting populations from dental decay. DL contributed to the conduct of this research (as outlined below) and was also a participant in this research. Ethical approval from an NHS Research Ethics Committee (NHS REC) was not required or obtained for this research, in line with guidance from the NHS Health Research Authority. This work constitutes research according to Section A of the guidance but, according to Section B, does not include any components which legally require NHS REC review. According to Section C, there is no policy requirement for NHS REC review of this research - it does involve NHS staff recruited as research participants by virtue of their professional role but this does not normally require NHS REC review unless material ethical issues are raised, which is not the case in this research. All interviewees provided informed consent before interview.