Professor Paul Speight, chair of the Faculty of Dental Surgery’s Research at the Royal College of Surgeons, said the fellowships were being made available to encourage and increase research into children’s oral health. They will be offered in partnership with the British Orthodontic Society and The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry.
Proffesor Speight said: “Around 26,000 children are now admitted to hospital each year for tooth decay, even though it is almost entirely preventable. This is the most common reason why children aged five to nine years old are admitted to hospital. These are shocking statistics which need to be addressed.
“We have called for a clear government strategy to improve the nation’s oral health and raise awareness of how simple measures will drive up standards. This includes encouraging and supporting children and parents to brush teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste as soon as teeth appear, as well as reducing sugar consumption, visiting the dentist regularly once teeth come through and water fluoridation programmes. We would also like to see action against inequalities in health and in access to services, clear care pathways for children and more involvement of children in decision making about their own healthcare. Other issues include management of craniofacial anomalies.
“Urgent action is needed and further research is required to help implement appropriate solutions. This is why we will be offering a number of research fellowships under the theme of ‘Promoting Children’s Oral Health’.”
The Faculty of Dental Surgery has teamed up with the British Orthodontic Society (BOS) and the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) to award a number of fellowships in 2016. These include:
- A joint FDS-BOS research training fellowship available to fund a clinician scientist to undertake a PhD in the broad field of orthodontics.
- A joint FDS-BSPD one year research fellowship to support a clinical trainee in Paediatric Dentistry who may be studying towards a PhD.
- The Faculty will also continue to offer the FDS Research Fellowship and the FDS Wellcome Research Fellowship.
The Faculty will also continue to offer small research grants. This year a number of these will be offered in partnership with the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) to support research designed to benefit community or population oral health.
Improving the state of children’s oral health will not only reduce unnecessary distress for parents and children by keeping children out of hospital, it will also improve oral health throughout life; this will help enable use of NHS finances more efficiently. For example, hospital based tooth extractions for children under 18 years of age cost £30m per year, so investing in preventative measures could mean long term savings for the NHS.
Potential candidates should visit the Faculty’s research webpages for more information www.rcseng.ac.uk/fds/research