The Dental Wellness Trust recently visited more than 450 primary school children to provide free oral health screenings.
This was the second time the charity had carried out oral health screenings at Waulud Primary School and Nursery in Luton, with the first visit taking place last year.
Between five clinicians at a time, more than 450 children were seen for oral health checks. The clinicians also provided dietary advice, oral health information and fluoride varnish to those who required it.
Making a difference
‘It is amazing, we’re so lucky,’ said Gill Fujino, one of the school’s family workers. ‘We feel really privileged and honoured to be working with them.
‘They’re so supportive and the team is fantastic. It has made quite a lot of difference to a lot of our children.’
The school has been working with the Dental Wellness Trust for five years to implement and maintain its Live Smart supervised tooth brushing programme.
This involves supplying the school with toothbrushes and toothpaste, with the children brushing their teeth to music every day. The programme aims to provide oral health education to the students, as well as an element of fun to keep them engaged.
Research shows a 40% difference in a child’s oral health if they do supervised tooth brushing in school.
When asked what changes they have noticed in the school children since working with the charity, Jill said, ‘The children are more aware of oral health and the fact they need to clean their teeth.
‘Since the charity’s last visit, they are also a lot more confident, whereas last year, a lot of the children were a bit nervous. We’ve had no dramas today!
‘The parents also seemed to be getting more on board with supporting the charity’s work at the school, with most of the children getting consent to take part this time around.’
Oral health crisis
With 60,000 school days lost each year to poor oral health, the charity provides dental health and education to thousands of children in the UK.
Waulud Primary School has had a history of poor dental hygiene and oral health issues amongst its students.
‘Before we were part of this programme, it was having a huge impact on the children’s attendance, and also on their wellbeing,’ said Anne Devereux, the school’s headteacher.
‘We had children who were having days and days off school because they were in pain, or in some serious cases, they were having to be hospitalised to have numerous teeth extracted all in one go.
‘And that was because they were not visiting the dentist regularly and weren’t aware of the importance of oral health.
‘But this programme has had a really positive impact. The children have a much more positive attitude towards their oral health, and also towards going to the dentist. The idea of them being fearful about that visit seems to have been eradicated, which is great news.
‘And, of course, that then has a positive impact on their attendance. It’s really important that all schools get involved because it’s so easy to bring this service into schools.’
Putting an end to suffering
Linda Greenwall, leading cosmetic dentist, founded the Dental Wellness Trust in 2011. The charity’s mission is to improve the general health and wellbeing of young children through dental wellness – especially to those most in need.
She said: ‘It’s been great to see the impact of our work that we do in the school. Many children actually have really great teeth, which is fabulous to see.
‘There are still some children who are not brushing well and don’t have a toothbrush at home, and we are seeing the impact of this too – there has been a lot of tooth decay.
‘But the supervised tooth brushing programme is really making a difference, and it’s nice for us to see this because this school is a model school, but it’s difficult to get many other schools involved. I’d like to see more get involved.
‘About 30% of children are off school for toothache. This means a lot of time off school and a lot of suffering.
‘So, by implementing a tooth brushing programme, the children have better oral health, school attendance will increase, and the kids will be happy.
‘We’re also really grateful for Haleon’s support. It is a very important sponsor of ours, and it helps us with the Live Smart tooth brushing programmes by donating the toothbrushes and toothpaste.’
Changing children’s lives
Gaby Miranda is the administrator and coordinator for Dental Wellness Trust.
She said: ‘This program focuses on oral health promotion and prevention, and this type of intervention has been proven to reduce tooth decay.
‘I also think, at the end, this program will reduce oral health inequalities, as we are coming to places like Luton, which doesn’t have access to dental care.’
When asked why people should volunteer with the charity, she said: ‘It’s been proven that volunteering is good for your health.
‘But I think it’s deeper than that. Even though the charity benefits from the skills that the volunteers are bringing to the charity, I think the volunteers win more because they are really making an impact in that child’s life.
‘What we do here, the children carry with them forever and it will change their lives. By being involved in an outreach like this, the volunteers see the oral health crisis first-hand, and that’s why they all normally come back to volunteer for the charity again.’
Dr Ailing Jeavons, one of the volunteers, took part to find out what the charity does and how the screening program works.
She said: ‘So far, it’s been successful and it’s very well organised. This is a really effective way of doing it – it’s a really clever system.
‘Today, we are seeing about 480 children and there’s only around seven of us at a time. How long would it take for a practice to see that many children? It would require so much manpower.’
Ailing also said that getting involved with volunteering is great for exposure and experience.
‘At the end of the day, as dentists, we’re in a caring profession, so I think this is a good thing to get involved with.’
‘Shocking and upsetting’
Maria Abiagom and Ellie Wells both volunteered to get involved with the community and use their skills make a difference.
Maria, a dental therapist, said: ‘This is an amazing thing to do. It’s really nice to help children and educate them. If people want to get hands on, it’s the perfect thing to do.’
She also believes the impact the oral health screenings have on the children is huge. Through education, encouragement, dietary advice, interacting with dental professionals, and fluoride varnish if necessary, she hopes their work helps the fight against the oral health crisis amongst children.
Ellie, who recently graduated as a dentist from Kings College London, found the state of some of the children’s oral health upsetting. ‘It’s really shocking to see some of the children. Half of them have had heavily broken-down teeth and rampant caries. It’s just really shocking and upsetting to see.’
She also said their volunteering work is both great for the community and for building communication skills. ‘By meeting lots of different people and engaging with different communities, it really helps your networking and communication skills, as you’re working with and meeting lots of new people and helping the community.’
Get involved!
‘We’d really love more dentists, hygienists, therapists, and nurses to roll up their sleeves and get involved,’ added Linda. ‘When you give back, you get more than you give because it humbles you that you’re able to do it.
‘Dentistry is a very stressful profession, and sometimes when you walk out of your stressful environment and come and give back the privilege and the honour that you have in the education of dentistry, it resets your timeframe and resets your mind to be able to make a difference in a small way.
‘It’s a reset and a reframe, and it’s also a good balance of peace and calm and being grateful that you can share.
‘You can also get CPD points through volunteering, which will help your career.
‘Please come and help us – we need you. We need you to volunteer and come and make a difference with the Dental Wellness Trust.’
If you’d like to volunteer or for like more information, reach out to Gaby at [email protected].
