Within the past few weeks the Dental School has been active in engaging with local communities. Thanks are due to Tara Miran, who organised the St Pauls community event on Saturday 28th October, to dental students Hafsa (Year 4), Jenny (Year 4) and Sam (Year 5) for their participation, including producing games, quizzes and colouring activities, and to Phil for his expert advice, speech and encouragement to produce the most spherical bouncy ball possible from impression materials! As well as having a lot of fun we were able to provide oral healthcare advice and free samples (thanks in particular to Haleon) to the local community, this appears to have been very much appreciated. On Tuesday 31st October we also offered an opportunity for local parents and their children to come into the Dental School to understand more about impacts of sweets on oral and dental (and wider) health relating to Halloween – spot the spooky Denticle below! Thanks again to Phil and students who participated for their enthusiasm in putting on this event.
Our most recent community activity was a Single Parent’s Fair on Saturday 11th November at the Community Church, Southmead. In conjunction with Dentaid the School provided support in the form of free toothbrushes and toothpastes and advice from dental students for parents regarding looking after their children’s teeth. Thanks are due to Tila (Year 3), Hafsa (Year 4) and Erin (Year 5) for providing enthusiastic oral healthcare instruction and general advice for the many parents and children with which they spoke, and to Issy and Jane for help in setting up and subsequently supporting the event with expert and experienced guidance for all.
Kath Speers, Family and Community Lead, the Community Church, commented afterwards as follows:
“I wanted to thank you so much for coming to the Single Parent fair and giving so much of yourselves. Great advice and really engaging conversations. I heard lovely feedback from a number of people, both team and attendees; one lady told me that your stand was the most helpful for her situation. A lot of people felt that their specific needs of being a single parent were really well thought through and were touched by the kindness and friendliness of all involved. 122 adults registered on the day but in total there were 283+ people, including children. It was one of our best fairs yet.”
Planning for other community engagement activities both within and outside the formal curriculum is underway. If you would like to get involved please email: dent-community-engagement@bristol.ac.uk