University of Lincoln launches 'dental dessert' ice cream van to fight for a new dental school
A leading figure behind a ‘dental dessert’ campaign stunt which dished out free ‘toothpaste inspired’ ice creams has vowed to step up the fight for Lincolnshire to get its own dental school.
The University of Lincoln has launched an ice cream van project – a playful nod to Lincolnshire’s status as a so-called ‘dental desert’ – as part of its push to get Government backing for a training facility to help boost access to NHS appointments in the county.
It developed a ‘toothpaste inspired’ vanilla ice cream with a mint sauce and handed them out for free to visitors at the Lincolnshire Show on Wednesday, June 17, after a tour of parts of the county worst affected by the NHS dentist shortage.
Susie MacPherson, project manager for the dental project at the University of Lincoln, said: “The dental dessert tour is a way of highlighting to Lincolnshire residents that it’s a really serious issue.
“Many people across Lincolnshire are unable to access the NHS dentistry they need – and the main reason actually is because we do not have enough dental workforce in the area.
“At the university, we’re training hygienists and therapists from September and we want to train dentists because they’ll be able to deliver the majority of dental appointments that we need.”
She added that the idea to set up the ice cream van tour was particularly relevant to highlight the issues facing the county’s seaside communities.
Just one in four people in Lincolnshire can access NHS dental care, according to the university, with some parts of the county having some of the lowest dental care rates in the country.
In Boston, where access challenges are particularly acute, four in ten five-year-olds show signs of dental decay, compared with a national figure of 27 per cent.
The ice cream van tour began in Skegness on Monday (June 15), then headed to Cleethorpes on Tuesday before going to the Lincolnshire Show for Wednesday and Thursday – and will end at Westminster today (Friday), where officials will raise the campaign with ministers.
The university is calling for the Government to provide funded places for a dental school.
It said it already has the facilities and resources to set up the facility – but it needs Government funding towards the placements to make this a reality.