The Good Shepherd works closely with many other agencies and partners including in the world of health to provide a range of support to our service users.
One of those is to promote advice and support around oral health as well as being able to provide treatment plans.
This month is National Smile Month, running from May 16 to June 16, and we are delighted that dental health specialist Caroline Bestwick has penned a blog to outline the support provided by the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Special Care Dental Service to the Good Shepherd.
Here are Caroline’s words:
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‘National Smile Month is running from the 16th May – 16th June – my name is Caroline and I am the dental health specialist from the Royal Wolverhampton Trust.
‘Smile month is all about promoting good oral health because everyone deserves a healthy smile. Can I repeat, “everyone deserves a healthy smile.”
Oral health is an integral part of general health and wellbeing. Good oral health enables individuals to communicate effectively, to eat and enjoy food and is important in overall quality of life and social confidence.
Oral disease has a significant impact on individuals, including pain, discomfort, sleepless nights, limitations in eating which leads to poor nutrition. The most common oral health diseases are tooth decay and periodontal disease which can both cause pain and infection as well as, eventually, tooth loss.
Improving oral health is an important factor in appearance, self-esteem and social isolation which is why I am very passionate about improving the lives of the most vulnerable within Wolverhampton.
I attend here at the Good Shepherd every Wednesday between 11.30am and 2pm to offer advice and support with any dental health issues.
Initially I offer the dental drop-in session at Pennfields medical centre which is held on a Thursday afternoon between 2.30pm-4.30pm. From there, Jenny, our amazing dentist, will discuss a full treatment plan with the patient and what dental treatment appointments are needed.
We are extremely lucky to have such a fantastic working relationship with the support workers and most weeks Paul, Dawn and Ram support the patients to the clinic for their dental appointment.
*At the end of National Smile Month, we will bring you more on this theme including from a service user who has benefitted from the support.
