Diabetes Care From The Dental Chair, sponsored by Corsodyl, outlines the INDICATE-2 study (Introducing Diabetes Checks in the Dental Setting), a major UK initiative led by the University of Birmingham and funded by Haleon.
The study establishes a care pathway for dental teams across 50 practices to screen routine patients for diabetes and pre-diabetes using blood tests and the DDS score (Diabetes Risk in Dentistry Score). Because people often visit the dentist when they feel healthy rather than sick, dental chairs present a unique “cold face” opportunity to diagnose conditions early.
Watch Episode 3 via The Probe’s YouTube channel:
Also available on Spotify:
In this episode we explore:
- Policy & NHS Integration: How point-of-care screening in dental practices can align with broader NHS preventive care targets and public health strategies.
- Health Economics & Cost Savings: The economic argument for early detection in dental settings, focusing on how timely intervention saves long-term NHS costs by mitigating severe diabetes-related complications.
- Patient Perspectives & Personal Impact: Real-world feedback and patient experiences regarding being screened during a routine dental visit, including the psychological and practical impact of early diagnosis.
- Future Scaling & Long-Term Vision: Recommendations for expanding the care pathway beyond the initial pilot study to standard practice across dental surgeries nationally.
The series gathers insights from the following prominent health leaders, researchers, and frontline professionals:
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Professor Iain Chapple – Key lead researcher instrumental in bringing the study to life at the University of Birmingham.
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Dr. Zehra Yonel – Clinical researcher from the University of Birmingham who coordinates the practice-based network.
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Jason Wong – Chief Dental Officer for England.
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Dr. Nigel Carter – Former Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation.
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Abbi Castle – Lead Community Care Coordinator at OBEX Dental (sharing Frontline primary care team perspectives).
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Adam Sisson – Vice President and Head of Oral Health Research at Haleon.
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Anne – A patient who was successfully diagnosed with type 2 diabetes directly from a dental screening test.
Missed the series so far?
Watch episode 1 here:
Watch episode 2 here:
