Through the eyes of a dementia sufferer

Sir Keith Pearson, HEE Chair will launch the film during a visit to the dental team at Health Education Thames Valley who worked with Wessex Dental team on producing the film.

Sir Keith Pearson said:

“The film gives us a real insight into just how confusing attending a dentist appointment can be for someone with dementia. Figures show that 800,000 people in the UK suffer from dementia and many of these people will have experienced visiting their local dental practice.

“It will provide dental teams with valuable information on how difficult things can be for sufferers and provide some ideas on how to make arrangements to make the process smoother and easier for their patients.”

Paul Holmes, Director South, Health Education England said:

“Twenty two million adults in England saw an NHS dentist in the 24 months to June 2014, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).  A significant number of these people are likely to have difficulty with short term memory loss and may be in the early stages of dementia. Awareness of these potential issues by health care staff can significantly improve patient experiences.