Academy to Provide Free Dental Treatment

A new dental centre setup by the University of Portsmouth will provide free NHS dental treatment for up to 3,000 each year. Work has already started on the £9m Dental Academy plans.

The centre, to be built in Ravelin Park, will train 80 students each year who will learn by giving free dental treatment to local patients, including bridges, fillings, crowns, dentures and extractions.

The academy is setup to be in walking distance of some deprived areas of the city, including Portsea and Somers Town, where oral hygiene is, on average, worse than the national average.

The pro-vice chancellor of the university, Dr Davil Arell, said that this new facility will bring huge benefits to the city.

The building will be linked to the School of Professionals Complementary to Dentistry in Ravelin Park, which is where dentists and nurses are already trained. The new academy will house students of dentistry from King’s College London Dental Institute for their final year in which they will study real situations.

One patient has already been treated at the SPCD. The 35-year-old said that his mouth would bleed every time he brushed. After years of trying to find an NHS dentist, he heard about the new school and after examination they found that it was the early stages of gum disease. Since then the problem has ‘completely cleared up’.

The academy is due to open in September 2010. It will included facilities for children as well as larger surgeries with chairs suitable for those who are less mobile or disabled.

DENTAL HEALTH IN THE CITY

Earlier in the year a dental health survey of adults in the city, carried out by Portsmouth City Teaching Primary Care Trust, showed that nearly a third of those who responded hair pain in their mouth, teeth or gums within the past year.

27 percent of those surveyed had not visited a dentist in the past year, and nearly a third of those in care homes had not seen a dentist for 10 years or more.

For 22 percent cost was the main deterrent, and 8 percent were afraid of the dentist.