NHS Dentistry and Oral Health bulletin - An update from Jason Wong

An update from Jason Wong, Interim Chief Dental Officer England:

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to threaten humans, animals, plants, and the environment, Both World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW, 18-24 November) and the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD, 18 November) serve as the annual reminder to raise awareness and understanding of AMR.

NHS England has published this letter, addressed to all dental practices, for WAAW. The letter is an invitation to join healthcare leaders to take urgent action to prevent AMR together, across all sectors of the healthcare system.

Mouth Cancer Action Month is held in November every year and is supported by the Mouth Cancer Foundation and the Oral Health Foundation; this is UK's biggest charity campaign for mouth cancer awareness. I recommend that you highlight the potentially lifesaving 45 second self-check for mouth cancer to your patients and teams. To this end, the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO) is exploring how this message might be communicated to the population through oral health products in a similar way to cancer checks being promoted in underwear across national supermarkets.

Lastly, we are pleased to announce that the Clinical Standard: Oral Healthcare for Autistic Children & Young People and/or those with a Learning Disability in Special Educational Settings has been published. The clinical standard supports the vision of universal access whereby everyone receives quality health services that meet their specific needs, enabling people to live a life without active disease, discomfort or embarrassment. The clinical standard is designed to be utilised by all those involved in improving health outcomes and quality of life for autistic children and young people (CYP), and those CYP with a learning disability in England. The standard is accompanied by a supporting package of tools, resources, and modules that are all freely available online - more on that below.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the OCDO Honorary Consultants, with whom we work closely, who have dedicated their time to contribute their specialist expertise to this and other clinical standards.

Please encourage your Integrated Care System to review and implement this latest publication, as well as the suite of clinical policies already available, to deliver the ambitions to improve health services for all population groups.

Read the full NHS Dentistry and Oral Health bulletin