On the 2nd – 3rd November 2022, the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future UK Chapter met for the first time since the October 2021 Chapter launch.
When the Chapter launched, its members agreed on three key themes to focus its efforts on. These were:
- Implementing caries prevention and care in everyday dental practice
- Implementing caries prevention and care in health and social care curricula
- Promoting caries prevention and care for the vulnerable across the life course
At this November 2022 meeting, the members aimed to create a set of plans that would help them bring these three ideas to life. The Chapter also decided to explore how IT solutions could also be brought in to help make the Chapter’s plans more effective.
To achieve this, the Chapter Co-Chairs, Prof. Avijit Banerjee and Prof. Nigel Pitts divided the members into three workgroups, based on their interests and specialities, and each group was tasked with developing an appropriate, effective and pragmatic plan for their assigned theme. Over the next 24 hours, the three groups discussed their plans, presented their initial ideas back to the whole group and then updated those plans following the feedback.
The Chapter is composed of professionals from all across the UK and the spectrum of oral health. The approach taken by the Chairs allowed a truly collaborative experience with each theme receiving ideas and input from this wide array of perspectives. It is this joint teamwork approach that will be vital to achieving a cavity-free future in the UK. Some of the common areas identified by the three groups included a need for a well thought through communications plan that brings in both traditional publications and social media to help spread the correct messages, as well as creating the right incentives to encourage the most positive behaviours.
The Chairs would like to thank Russ Ladwa, Patrick Fee, Ben Atkins, Miranda Steeples, Chris Deery, Gail Douglas, Tim Newton, Fiona Sandom, Fiona Ellwood, Rakhee Patel, Maria Morgan, Gerry Mckenna, James Coughlan, Chris Vernazza and Stephen Hancocks for the time and energy they have given to the Chapter.
If you would like to learn more about the UK Chapter then please read the account of the Chapter’s launch meeting in the British Dental Journal here.
