Equality in dental care

My role is involves delivering mouth care training to medical and nursing teams across the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. My role also involves supporting vulnerable patients in regards to their oral health. This can include mouth care advice, signposting to a dentist or referring to the community dental team.

In January 2017, I teamed up with my Learning Disabilities Liaison Nurse (LDLN) and we discussed piloting a project looking at the mouth care needs for patients with learning disabilities.

There has been a great deal of evidence to support the fact that people who have a learning disability do not receive equal health care treatment or a good health service. There are significant unmet health needs that often go unrecognised and this may have an impact upon the person’s quality of life. The Royal College of Nursing (2013) highlighted that this may be due to a poor diet, poor dental hygiene and the lack of accessible oral health promotion. They also recognise that, despite these problems, these patients are less likely to visit their dentist.