Dentistry speaks to Dentaid’s Jacqueline James about the early years oral health program and how the charity’s partnership with Denplan has helped it and its mobile clinics grow.
Tell us a little about Dentaid and your role there
Jacqueline James: Dentaid has been in business for over 25 years. We are a dental charity providing free dental care to homeless and vulnerable people both in the UK and abroad.
I worked as a project manager at Dentaid for more than 11 years, mainly focusing on our work abroad.
The pandemic has put some of that on hold, so as that slowly returns in 2022, I’m also currently looking after our Brightbites program, which is our oral health education program.
What is the Brightbites Oral Health Education Program?
JJ: Brightbites teaches young children about the importance of taking care of their teeth.
The program has actually been running in the background for several years.
But thanks to our partnership with Denplan, part of Simplyhealth, we’ve been able to give the literature and resources a much-needed overhaul.
Their funding has enabled us to expand our literature to cover early years settings such as nurseries as well as primary school children.
With figures showing around a quarter of children starting primary school already have some tooth decay, we have wanted to expand our program in this area for some time.
We all know how vital it is to make young children and their families more aware of the importance of establishing good oral health routines from an early age.
Recently you have seen an increased interest from schools and early years settings in oral health education. What changed?
JJ: We have had a huge increase in requests since the government changed the early years curriculum to include oral health in September last year.
This is such a positive step to focus more on oral health from a younger age.
While we accept requests to deliver Brightbites from all schools and early years settings across the UK, we really focus on hard-to-reach and deprived areas.
It’s all about reaching children in areas of social deprivation, as well as where families experience poverty.
Brightbites has also been used in schools and support groups for children with special educational needs.
We also work with volunteer dental professionals who help us identify local groups and schools they know that could benefit from the Brightbites program.
Your new Brightbites bibliography has just returned from the printers. Now you also cover early years as well as schools. How were the resources developed?
JJ: With funding from Denplan, Brightbites now has two new sets of leaflets aimed at preschoolers and primary school children.
We had clinical input into these and had great support from our charity’s oral health educator, dental hygienist Anne Powders, in helping us develop the content.
The literature includes information on oral health routines, healthy eating, the importance of visiting the dentist, and advice for parents.
We also have resources for teachers including classroom activities, lesson plans, experiments to work alongside the curriculum and enhance volunteer visits.
Denplan’s partnership with us, which started last year, has also allowed us to supply toothbrushes and toothpaste for all the children we see.
Unfortunately, so many early years settings we visit in deprived areas still have children who do not have a toothbrush. Remarkably, many of our early visits also show how many children under the age of three have never had a dental check-up.
Mention your volunteers. Who can participate in the Brightbites program?
JJ: Any dentist from medical groups can get involved and register their interest on our website.
We know that many practices already visit schools and you could perhaps benefit from using our resources by joining us as a Brightbites volunteer.
We also have non-clinical volunteer staff, from practice managers to receptionist staff who want to help their community and have excellent oral health knowledge.
The application process is short, but as part of working in the early years, volunteers need a DBS check before starting.
Denplan’s other funding stream announced as part of your partnership last year helped fund 25 mobile ‘Denplan Outreach Clinics’. Tell us more about them.
JJ: Our mobile dental units travel the country offering free dental care for the most vulnerable in society to people who may not otherwise have the opportunity to see a dentist.
We take our dental surgeries to shelters, hospices and day centers for people who are experiencing homelessness or temporary housing and often find it difficult to access dental care.
Many homeless and vulnerable people are not registered with a dentist and live with long-term pain and infections.
Unfortunately, 70% of homeless people have dental problems and 15% have tried to pull out their teeth.
Last year alone, we ran more than 170 mobile dental clinics, all staffed by volunteers from the dental industry, including Denplan member dentists.
What are the main oral health issues you deal with in your clinics?
JJ: Many of our patients have not been to the dentist for 20 or even 30 years. So our first step is to build their confidence and get them hooked on dentistry.
We often see people in acute pain who need extractions or fillings or antibiotics for swelling.
But just as important is the opportunity to boost one’s confidence in their smile – whether it’s scaling, restorative treatments or even dentures.
All our patients also receive oral cancer screenings. Ultimately, if we get someone to gain the confidence to sit in the chair, talk to a dentist, and learn how to brush their teeth properly, we see that as a huge win.
Use volunteer dentists for the clinics. What feedback do they have about their experience taking valuable time away from their daily practice?
JJ: We offer our volunteers a way to give back and help the most vulnerable people in their communities who they would never see in their normal working week.
We’ve had volunteers say they can now provide dental care to rough sleepers they used to buy a cup of coffee for on their way to work.
They tell us that it is an extremely rewarding experience and they really enjoy working in the mobile dental unit.
Each clinic is supported by two Dentaid staff who make sure everyone has a safe, enjoyable experience and many of our volunteers sign up to help us again – which we consider a good sign!
Where will Denplan Outreach clinics go in the coming months?
JJ: In the coming months we will be operating clinics in Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and Wiltshire.
And we’re opening new clinics in the Midlands and Yorkshire later this year, all made possible by our partnership.
For more information or to volunteer, please get in touch [email protected]. To join, visit Dentaid’s Brightbites program www.dentaid.org/bright-bites. To learn more about Denplan’s partnership with Dentaid, visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk/our-partners/dentaid.
