"As part of the Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic,
dental services were suspended on the 25th March with only a few
emergency services remaining open. This suspension was rapid and for the most
part unexpected at that time. This meant that planned treatment and routine
care stopped completely. At the time of closure there was no way of knowing how
long this situation would continue and the public did not know where to go if
they had a problem.
As a Council member of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD), I have lead a working party to deliver a health promotion campaign focusing on oral health and dental care during the social restriction on place to limit the spread of COVID-19.
As it was clear that members of the public needed some explicit evidence based advice that was both reassuring and helpful, a working party was formed in April that included members of the BASCD Council, including the President, and ordinary members employed by Public Health England, Dept of Health and the NHS. This collaborative approach with a range of people was new for BASCD which usually worked on project 'in house'.
As a group we planned a social media campaign using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that disseminated simple messages to the public with associated pictures and infographics. Posts were published daily throughout the month. These messages included where to find dental care during a time of social restriction, reassurance about hygiene and PPE at dental practices, breastfeeding advice for mothers who were worried about virus transmission, as well as general oral health advice.
Our working group developed resources that could be viewed by members of the public or used by others as part of training sessions e.g. for NHS staff. These were also shared via social media (and are available on BASCD website). Other public health organisations saw the value in the work that we were doing and picked up our campaign. To demonstrate this, the resources developed are now co-badged with BASCD and the Faculty of Public Health logos.
I lead the work for this campaign, contributing to the development of social media posts and resources, chairing weekly meetings and ensuring that everyone met their action points. Smile Month was from 18th April to 18th May. I am now evaluating this piece of work and will report back to BASCD Council with two main learning points that have come out of this: a) there is a need for credible evidence based simple public facing oral health promotion at a national level and b) a small working group of motivated individuals can achieve a great deal if usual boundaries are removed.
Dental practices re-opened (with some restriction) on the 8th June."
