Gossip Girls spread the word
A women’s social media group in Plymouth has been highlighted by the city council as instrumental in spreading the word about dental care available to children.
The Plymouth Dental Task Force, set up by the council 18 months ago to address a shortage of NHS dentists in the city and improve oral health, has been working with the University of Plymouth’s Dental School to offer dental care to children under 16 who aren’t registered with a dentist.
Around 23,000 people in the city, including more than 4,000 children, are waiting to see an NHS dentist, and more than one in five children aged under five has visible tooth decay.
A pilot scheme offering free dental care to children aged up to 11, which started at Whitleigh Primary School after a survey revealed half its pupils weren’t registered with a dentist, has now been extended to other schools.
After a slow start last year, the council has been told of many expressions of interest since the summer, with a Facebook group called Plymouth Gossip Girls being key to that.
At the council’s health and wellbeing board, public health consultant Robert Nelder said that since September, Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE), part of the dental school, had received more than 1,300 expressions of interest.
By November, 369 children had been registered and 150 had been to an appointment. There are 120 patients in ‘active care’.
Staff at PDSE are still working through the expressions of interest for the remaining children.
Mr Nelder said a city council scheme last summer called ‘Fit and Fed’ sowed the seed, as teams from PDSE attended to explain the offer of dental care.
The city-wide holiday activity and food programme, which also takes place during Easter and Christmas holidays, primarily supports families with children who receive benefit-related free school meals.
“Once it got onto the Plymouth Gossip Girls Facebook page, everyone knew about it,” Mr Nelder reported.
“So it’s a good example of getting partners into the event to support families in the summer and Plymouth Gossip Girls were able to publicise this intervention in the city.”
He continued: “There are probably not that many places up and down the country that have a dental offer for children and young people like the one we have in Plymouth.”
Plymouth Gossip Girls Facebook group, created in 2016, has 75,000 members and has thousands of pounds for charity.
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