Dentistry is part of a jigsaw of care which is essential to identify and support children at risk of dental neglect and possibly wider neglect, says Claire Stevens, spokesperson for the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. Her comment was made on BBC Breakfast where she was interviewed about a paper published today in the British Dental Journal. The paper is based on a retrospective audit of 27 children treated for severe dental infection at King’s College Hospital between 2015 and 2017. More than 50% of the children were between 5-8 years old and eleven of the 27 were already known to social services.

For 15 years, Jenny Harris has worked to raise awareness of safeguarding issues in the dental world and beyond. The project lead for the landmark document, Child Protection and the Dental Team, she has been wholly committed to ensuring that dental neglect is recognised as a potential marker for child maltreatment. This month, in recognition of her outstanding contribution in this area, she was awarded Honorary Membership of the Council of the NSPCC. Taken into account was her commitment to child safeguarding and 11 years membership of the charity’s Health Liaison Committee on which she has represented the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD).

The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry’s Outstanding Innovation Award is open for entries. The award, now in its second year, was established to give recognition to shining examples of initiatives which improve children’s oral health. The winner in 2018 was dentist Ben Underwood for his tooth-brushing app BrushDJ. The first prize for the award is the opportunity to speak at BSPD’s conference and Ben’s presentation was definitely a highlight of the Dundee gathering.