A brand new mobile dentist has been launched in Oxfordshire to try and improve the county’s dental health; the ‘tooth bus’ comes complete with a dentists’ chair, computer and dental equipment to provide various towns in the area with a free check-up if the residents have not been to the dentist in over two years.
Oxfordshire is currently ranked 120th out of 150 primary care trusts across the country, with just under half of the adults visiting the dentist within the last two years. The tooth bus is designed to improve oral health and raise awareness of dentistry; dentist Manuel Perez Padron – based at Iffley Dental Practice – commented that the problem consumers were having was with access to treatment and praised the idea of mobile dentistry, saying ‘I think the tooth bus is brilliant because there are areas where people don’t have the transport to come to the dental practices. There is a need for better access and more facilities in the most deprived areas.’
Susanna Pressel, who sits on the Oxfordshire health overview and scrutiny committee, said that ‘It is a brilliant idea because lots of people put off going to a dentist and perhaps not registering with one. I am worried about parts of the city where children have a large number of holes in their teeth.’ She also added that her hopes for the initiative would be to persuade children to get their teeth checked because starting good habits early on is helpful.
The tooth bus will be stopping at shopping centres, town centres, supermarkets, and community centres in and around Oxfordshire, with dates yet to be confirmed.