Renewed partnership to provide free dental care to for Southampton cancer patients

Macmillan Cancer Support has renewed its partnership with dental charity Dentaid to help fund a mobile unit at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS). 

Dentaid’s mobile unit attends the hospital twice a month with its group of volunteer dentists and dental nurses to offer treatment to head and neck cancer patients. Since the partnership started in July 2021 the unit has treated over a hundred head and neck cancer patients at UHS who are either about to commence or are undergoing treatment. The service also supports patients who have finished their cancer treatment, but are now suffering ongoing damage to their teeth.

Over 300 different treatments have taken place including: extractions of painful teeth, fillings, oral health instruction, dentures to replace teeth lost during cancer treatment and preventative and protective treatments including flourish varnish.

One of the partnership’s patient’s this year was 81 year-old, Pam Myatt. In 2016 she was diagnosed with throat cancer which spread to her tonsils.  Her left tonsil was removed, and she started radiotherapy and chemotherapy in 2017. Although she has now finished her cancer treatment, it has caused lasting damage to her teeth which are now at much greater risk of decay and damage.