DT News - UK - London’s street people in need of dental services

Dental Tribune International

Fri. 2 November 2012

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LONDON, UK: Researchers from King’s College London have found that there is a significant need for services providing oral health care to homeless people in England. From an inspection of the appointment records of almost 350 patients, they found that nearly all of the homeless patients had received dental treatment owing to infection or tooth decay, among others.

The researchers assessed the outcomes of the dental services provided by the Community Dental Service in the East London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, City and Hackney. According to the districts’ data, 3,102 appointments had been provided for adult homeless people through mobile dental services and dental clinics between April 2009 and September 2011.

The review of a sample of about 1,200 appointment records of 349 patients revealed that 99 per cent of these homeless people had required dental treatment. About 40 per cent had reported pain and a further 5 per cent had complained about swelling or infection. Furthermore, only nine of the 349 patients had shown no signs of caries, three of whom were edentulous, the researchers said.

They also observed that 128 patients had scheduled one appointment only. While about 12 per cent of these had not received any treatment, most had received temporary or permanent fillings or undergone extractions, among other procedures. According to the study, 216 homeless adults had completed their treatment, which took between one and 18 appointments.

“The study highlighted that flexibly delivered dental services, embedded in local health and social networks, seemed to promote uptake in these clients who normally find it extremely difficult to find dental care services elsewhere,” the researchers concluded.

The patients were between 18 and 74 years of age, most of them under 50 (281).

The findings were published online on 12 October in the British Dental Journal ahead of print.

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