Project aims to better dental experience for people with learning disabilities

Previous studies have shown children with learning disabilities face higher rates of hospital admissions for tooth extractions and, as they move into adulthood, there is a risk of their dental health deteriorating rapidly.

The Caring Beyond Words project will unite a team of artists, writers, and community support staff with some of the UK’s leading researchers in both dentistry and learning disabilities.

It aims to conduct a series of engagement sessions that bring researchers together with individuals with learning disabilities to understand how best to change dental care to make it work better for the patients.

The project will lead to a series of new projects to pilot and test how these interventions can work in a dental environment. According to the university, the hope is that the project could transform dental care for individuals with learning disabilities, identifying gaps in current care and fostering innovative solutions based on their experiences.