Rob Nelder (Public Health Specialist) delivered the Dental Access and Oral Health Improvement in Plymouth report and highlighted:

a)    While dental access was not the responsibility of Plymouth City Council (PCC), the Council had worked hard over many years to improve access to dental services for Plymouth’s residents;

b)    The Dental Task Force had been established in July 2023 to help tackle the high number of people awaiting allocation to an NHS Dentist, as well as poor childhood dental health;

c)      The first priority of the Dental Task Force had been to develop a new dental facility in the city, run by the Peninsula Dental School. The University had announced today that this facility would be opening by the end of the year, in the city centre;

d)    The second aim of the taskforce had been to attract additional funding for utilisation by PCC to enable it to enhance the oral health improvement offer available in the city. Following the submission of proposals, NHS Devon ICB had granted three years of £900,000 of annual funding to PCC to expand the existing Supervised Tooth-brushing Scheme, expand the Fluoride Varnish Scheme, and to expand the ‘Open Wide, Step Inside project’;

e)    The third aim of the Dental Taskforce had been to use the annual ICB underspend to commission new services for high priority groups and those who don’t have access to an NHS Dentist. This work was ongoing with the ICB;

f)     The Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE) now offered free dental treatment for children aged 1-11 years in the city, who were not registered with an NHD Dentist;

g)    The Dental Taskforce was working towards a pilot ‘consent scheme’, enabling greater access to dental care for children who may have previously struggled to access treatment during their parents/carers working hours;

h)    The NHD Devon ICB Steering Group had been established to help prioritisation of work streams, and PCC would be submitting new proposals for funding, directed towards groups who experience severe and multiple deprivation;

i)     Community Water Fluoridation was conducted often in areas where fluoride contained in drinking water was lower than the recommended levels (one part per million). While Plymouth’s fluoride levels were lower than this target, Plymouth did not add fluoride to its drinking water, and no new fluoridation schemes had been initiated in the UK for around 40 years. Plymouth would monitor proposals and ongoing engagement in the North East, which were currently underway.

In response to questions, the Board discussed:

j)     Recognition of the success of the Dental Task Force, and the vast work undertaken across the city to drive oral health improvement;

k)    The geographical inconsistencies in dental provision, and challenges recruiting and retaining NHS Dentists in Plymouth;

l)     Potential roles for the Health and Wellbeing Hubs in contributing to the Oral Health Improvement programme;

m)  The additional health factors from poor oral hygiene, including mental health, confidence, socialisation, speech and language, and school attendance;

n)    Student dentists, and the potential for sponsoring student placements to boost recruitment and retention;

o)    The interconnected relationship between child poverty and oral health.

The Board agreed:

1.    To ask the Dental Task Force to consider issues around ‘gaps in dental placements and workforce’ at its upcoming meeting, with the ICB;

2.    To circulate the Devon Stakeholder Dental Briefing to Board members;

3.    To note the report, and continue to support the Corporate Plan priority of ‘Working with the NHS to provide better access to health, care and dentistry’.