Oral Health

Good oral health can improve dignity, self-esteem, social integration and quality of life for an individual whether young or old.

The oral health chapter emphasises the issues of oral health of older people in care homes and improving the oral health of prisoners.

One of the key priority groups for the Dental Action Plan in Scotland is that of older people. This chapter looks at the work being done in Lanarkshire to improve oral health in care homes.

An oral health assessment tool and a training programme for care home staff called Mouth Matters was developed following an oral health needs assessment of 400 residents in seven care homes in Lanarkshire.

In this video clip NHS Lanarkshire's consultant in Dental Public Health Albert Yeung speaks about the work being done to improve the oral health of older people in care homes.

Severe tooth decay is four times more likely in the male prison population and this chapter also looks at work undertaken to improve oral health at HMP Shotts.