Working Well: Roots to Dental, a collaborative offer jointly led by GMCA, the University Dental Hospital of Manchester and Ingeus (as a Working Well provider), has been Highly Commended for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ at the University of Manchester’s Making a Difference Awards.
Roots to Dental provides free dental treatment to jobseekers on the Working Well: Work and Health Programme (WWWHP), which supports people with disabilities or long-term health conditions into sustainable employment. Of the 31,000 people supported by the WWWHP, 15% report dental issues, with many lacking regular access to care - impacting on their wellbeing, confidence and employability. Since launching in July 2023, nearly 300 WWWHP participants have been referred to WWWHP for treatments including check-ups, extractions, and dentures.
Among the first to benefit from the scheme was 52-year-old WWWHP participant Julie, who was unemployed for more than a year after tendonitis in her arms meant she had to give up work as a carer. She says: “My teeth just started to fall out so I couldn’t eat solid food. I lost weight and I was in pain. I had zero confidence when it came to talking to people, meaning I thought I needed to avoid customer-facing jobs.
“I used to cover my mouth when I spoke to people but the dental work gave me a lot more confidence when it came to speaking to people face-to-face, such as job interviews.”
Julie has now secured a position as a reablement support worker, helping people to regain their independence after leaving hospital, and says: “I don’t think I would ever have got my teeth fixed without Roots to Dental.”
As well as helping jobseekers, Roots to Dental offers hands-on experience for dental students, enhancing their skills and community engagement. Dr. Vitalia Kinakh, lead for Social Responsibility at the University of Manchester’s School of Dentistry, said, “Roots to Dental has significantly improved the lives of many individuals while providing our students with crucial hands-on experience. This initiative embodies the spirit of social responsibility and community support that we strive to instil in our students.”
Thomas Britton, who leads on GMCA’s Working Well services said: “The greatest success of Roots to Dental is the innovative partnership that connects between work, health and skills delivery in terms of addressing chronic oral health barriers, improving their prospects of getting and keeping a job and supporting high quality, practical experience for clinical students, in a sense growing our own dentists of the future”.
“Most importantly we have created an ‘alternative pathway to care’ and so alleviating pressure on a traditional NHS dentistry system that is struggling.”
Adele Holloway, Ingeus Operations Director, added, “We’re proud to be recognised for our collaborative work improving dental access for those facing unemployment or financial hardship, while supporting the next generation of dentists.”
