Community Dental Services CIC (CDS) has staged a day of action to address the crisis in children’s dental care – specifically to address the “Covid Generation” of children who have never seen a dentist, or whose continuity of dental care has been severely impacted by Covid.
CDS’s oral health improvement team and a clinical team, including senior clinical staff in management roles who donned their uniforms, delivered the “Screen and Intervene” initiative at its Southend clinic on 29th October.
Children received on-the-spot check-ups and preventive treatments, and, where necessary, were referred for further care in general dental practice. Those identified by CDS as needing their specialist care were triaged into their own services.
Glen Taylor, CDS Chief Operating Officer, said: “Our Day of Action in Southend was a wonderful opportunity to bring the community together and make a real difference to children’s oral health. Seeing the smiles, curiosity, and confidence of the children as they took part was incredibly rewarding. This initiative has enabled us to see a large number of children in a short space of time, and we are pleased to have partnered with the Henry Schein Cares Foundation to deliver an effective screen and intervene initiative. Through oral health education, we’re helping to build positive attitudes to oral health that will benefit them for years to come.”
The day, supported with materials, consumables and toothbrushing packs by the Henry Schein Dental Group’s “Give Kids A Smile” programme saw the CDS oral health team in attendance to share valuable prevention advice to raise families’ awareness of how to care for their children’s oral health longer term.
Uma Ravindran, Associate Operations Director for CDS’s Essex service, said: “This initiative aimed to tackle inequalities in oral health by reaching some of the most vulnerable children and families in our communities. We know that poor oral health in childhood can have profound and long-lasting consequences, affecting not only a child’s ability to eat, speak, and sleep comfortably but also impacting their school attendance, confidence, and overall wellbeing. Early prevention and education are therefore critical in ensuring better long-term health outcomes, particularly with the most common reason for young children to be hospitalised is for dental procedures.”
