Strengthened by a family cancer journey, Dr Urshla Devalia’s determination to improve children’s oral health is recognised
Dr Urshla (“Oosh”) Devalia, President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD), has been awarded an OBE in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours list, to be published on 13th June in The Gazette. Dr Devalia receives this honour in recognition of her contributions to children and young people’s oral health across the UK.
Dr Devalia is the founder and national lead of Mini Mouth Care Matters (Mini MCM), a programme she established in 2018–2019 to embed essential oral health practices into the routine care of children and young people in hospital and other non‑dental settings. Mini MCM aims to ensure that every child receives evidence-based mouth care, wherever they access healthcare services.
The awarding of an OBE to Dr Devalia recognises her as the UK’s leading advocate for the oral health of medically complex children. Drawing on her paediatric dentistry expertise Oosh has championed the inclusion of oral health in patient safety and quality frameworks, transforming outcomes for vulnerable groups by reducing the risk in delayed medical care due to poor oral health. The pioneering Mini MCM programme trains multidisciplinary teams nationwide to carry out a simple ‘lift the lip’ check, to spot early problems that could affect treatment or quality of life, and to deliver basic preventive care such as twice‑daily toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste. It has seen professionals trained across 37 NHS Trusts. Whilst it began as an initiative to support children and young people staying in hospital, Mini MCM is now a model expanded into additional settings including health visiting, palliative and end of life care, and special educational settings.
The significance of her work took on a new and deeply personal dimension for Oosh when her own 8‑year‑old daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2024, spending prolonged periods in hospital. During these admissions, they saw first‑hand how easily mouth care for children and young people can be overlooked, with oral health rarely treated as a priority alongside other aspects of care. This experience reinforced Dr Devalia’s conviction that tooth decay is almost entirely preventable, and that simple, practical adjustments to mouth‑care routines can have a life‑changing impact for some of the most vulnerable children and young people.
Dr Oosh Devalia OBE, BSPD President said: “I am honoured and truly humbled to receive national honours for services to children’s oral health. This is completely unexpected. For the last eight years I have largely had my head down, working with colleagues across the NHS and the wider health and social care sector to improve oral healthcare provision for all children, especially those who are most vulnerable. Taking up the presidential role at BSPD has given me a stronger platform to advocate more loudly for children’s oral health nationally.
“BSPD has recently welcomed the introduction of evidence-based interventions such as supervised toothbrushing and the expansion of community water fluoridation. But we must also address the oral health of children in health and social care settings, where mouth care is still too often overlooked. I recall numerous occasions as a hospital dental consultant being called to assess a child just before surgery, only to find significant tooth decay. The real tragedy is that their vital heart or cancer treatment must then be postponed due to this decay, which could present a serious infection risk. Dental decay is an almost entirely preventable disease, if basic oral healthcare practices are followed.
“The Mini Mouth Care Matters programme, supporting non-dental health professionals to care for a child’s mouth whilst they are in hospital as part of their everyday practice is so important to me. We must treat the mouth as part of the body, not a distinct entity. My daughter’s own personal cancer journey and witnessing how easily mouth care can be deprioritised during long hospital stays, has only strengthened my resolve to push for national roll-out of Mini MCM, so that vulnerable children and young people benefit from simple, practical changes that can make a significant difference.”
In addition to being BSPD’s President and a longstanding Trustee for the Society, Oosh Devalia holds several roles including Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at the Royal National ENT & Eastman Dental Hospitals (part of UCLH NHS Foundation Trust), and Consultant and Strategic Clinical Lead for Community Dental Services, CiC across the East of England, Chair of the East of England Paediatric Dentistry MCN, past clinical policy lead for the Office of the Chief Dental Officer for England.
As Oosh started her presidential year in September 2025, she launched her BSPD President’s Charter, which provides guidance to policymakers to deliver ‘Good oral health for EVERY child in the UK’. Several of the Society’s recommendations have been actioned, including the roll-out of targeted supervised toothbrushing and the proposed expansion of community water fluoridation in areas of high tooth decay.
