Dental student project adopted by Family Nurse Partnership nationwide

The result of a project by dental students at Plymouth University has been shared   nationally across the Family Nurse Partnership Programme.

A group of dental students undertook a community project with the Family Nurse Partnership Programme in Plymouth last year.

The project was part of the Inter Professional Engagement (IPE) programme which sees dental students undertake a number of projects in the community designed to raise oral health awareness and to improve access to dental care. The programme is delivered by the Community Engagement Team at the Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise.

Nurses from the Family Nurse Partnership Programme at Plymouth Community Healthcare, who provide support and advice to young mothers, received training and an information pack on the care of milk teeth from dental students at Plymouth University.

Part of the information pack included flash cards for use when visiting or interacting with Family Nurse Partnership Programme families, and it is these flash cards which have been shared nationally across all the programme.

Abigail Nelder, FNP Quality Support Officer at the Family Nurse Partnership, said: “Our nurses learned a lot from their work with dental students last year, and it is an indication of the quality of their project that the flash cards can be used by our Programme around the country. The students should be proud of this achievement, and we are delighted to have been able to work with them and the Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise to help bring it about.”

She added: “We are about to embark on our second student project with a new year of students, this time looking at diet and sugar in relation to pregnant mothers, their babies and weaning.”

Hassan Adnan, one of the students who was part of the project, said: “We are thrilled that our flash cards are now being used by the Family Nurse Partnership Programme nationwide. We are really pleased that our project is making a difference.”

Professor Christopher Tredwin, Head of Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry, added: “We are immensely proud of our students and the fact that their project has had such impact. The IPE programme is an innovative and important part of our course, and we could not deliver it without the vital involvement of local health and community groups and the organising abilities of the Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise. My thanks go to them for their continued input and support.”