In the latest Dentistry Talks, Roshan Roberts explains why reaching overlooked communities requires trust, better listening and a different approach to communication.
Dental practices keep repeating important oral health messages. But if those messages are still failing to reach some communities, is the problem what dentistry is saying, or how and where it is saying it?
For Roshan Roberts, communication starts long before a campaign goes live.
The executive podcast producer and co-founder of Dope Black Women joins Dentistry Talks to discuss what dentistry can learn from her work across BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and the Asian Network.
Roberts recalls spending three months building relationships with a charity before interviewing undocumented young people for a radio programme. That investment helped contributors trust her, speak for themselves and shape how their experiences were presented.
‘I think it’s about knowing who your audience are and knowing where they are, and then going directly to those places,’ she says.
For dentistry, that could mean questioning whether another newsletter will change behaviour. If practices want to reach younger people and parents, Roberts suggests looking at TikTok, YouTube Shorts and the content families already watch together.
The discussion moves from public campaigns into the dental practice. Roberts considers how professionals can ask patients questions without becoming paralysed by the fear of causing offence, and why a colleague who appears quiet or distant may actually feel excluded.
Published during Black History Month, the episode also examines which stories organisations choose to tell. Roberts recalls working on a Black news podcast that left her feeling heavy because its coverage repeatedly centred on pain.
‘My experience of being Black is not trauma,’ she says. ‘At the core of being Black is community. That’s what we’re about.’
Her challenge to dentistry is simple. Stop expecting people to come to the message. Listen first, build trust and take the message to them.
You can now watch the full episode on YouTube and listen on Spotify.
Topics include:
- Why dental campaigns may be missing their intended audiences
- Building trust with communities before asking them to engage
- Using TikTok, YouTube Shorts and other platforms to reach families
- Patient communication and the fear of causing offence
- Creating safer and more inclusive dental workplaces
- How unconscious bias can cause Black women to be misread at work
- Representation, role models and the visibility of Black dental professionals
- Building Dope Black Women and responding to what a community needs
- Why stories about Black life should extend beyond trauma.
Listen to other episodes below:
- Dentists are the ‘perimenopause detectives’: Kate Muir on menopause
- Is your dental practice accessible enough? Neuroinclusion in dentistry
- Burnout in dentistry: the warning signs before the collapse.
- How an Olympic bobsleigh athlete learned to weather the storm.
- Burnout, balance and building a brand: lessons from the Singing Dentist
- Ageing as a dental professional: how to maintain purpose and identity
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