School forced to rely on dental charity to treat pupils

The BBC has reported that the school decided to take action due to a large number of pupils failing to access a local NHS dentist. This issue was beginning to cause disruption in the classrooms, with children “left in tears” due to dental pain. Charlie Johnson, headteacher, explained that “the ongoing problems had led to increased absences and were affecting pupils' learning”.

According to the news report, Mr Johnson “took his concerns to public health officials, who told him there was a shortage of local NHS dentists taking on patients.

They put the school in touch with Dentaid, a UK charity that normally provides dental treatment to people in developing countries or to vulnerable groups such as the homeless”.