Brush Up - The Dental Academy’s oral health improvement scheme
Brush UP is a supervised tooth brushing programme that's goal is to increase the prevalence of good oral health from an early age. The Dental Academy oversees the programme in schools and nurseries in and around the Portsmouth area, providing toothpaste and toothbrushes to children, along with oral health advice.
Class teachers are trained to run the scheme in their classroom and shown an appropriate tooth brushing technique for young children. Children will brush their teeth for 2 minutes once a day at school. As part of the Brush UP programme children will also receive a fluoride varnish twice a year.
The aims of the programme are to:
- Improve the oral health of children in Portsmouth
- Offer oral health education to support families in self-management of oral health
- Signpost children in need of treatment to local NHS dental services or their existing dentist
- Encourage a positive relationship with dental services from a young age
- Ensure that as many children as possible, who would benefit from being on the programme, are given the opportunity to join
Dental walk-in clinics for the homeless community
Homelessness in the UK has significantly risen in the last decade, with current estimates at approximately 307,000 people sleeping rough, living in temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation and in hostels.
The Dental Academy has a longstanding relationship with local homelessness services in Portsmouth. We provide dental screening and advice to homeless patients and encourage them to come to see us for follow up appointments.
As part of one of our research projects we set up walk-in clinics to provide emergency, stabilisation and preventative dental treatment to local homeless people. The clinics are run by staff and student volunteers.
Dental check ups for Portsmouth Football Club first team
As part of a collaborative partnership between the University of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club, first team players have attended the Dental Academy for full oral health assessments provided by students.
The check ups are an opportunity to catch any potential issues early, such as dental trauma from the sport, tooth decay from a diet that’s often high in carbohydrates and sugars or dental erosion caused by acidic sports drinks.
Future research as part of this project will allow not only a better understanding of the frequency and characteristics of oral disease but also, to provide recommendations and individual advice for the best oral health care routine to improve footballers’ oral health and reduce the impacts of oral disease on their athletic performance and quality of life.
Portsmouth FC players get a check up at the Dental Academy
Thanks to a collaborative partnership with Portsmouth Football Club, our undergraduate dental students gave first team players Clark Robertson and Liam Vincent a full oral health assessment at our Dental Academy.
Check ups like these are an opportunity to catch any potential issues early, such as dental trauma from the sport, tooth decay from a diet that’s often high in carbohydrates and sugars, or dental erosion caused by acidic sports drinks.
Professor Chris Louca: Today we are resurrecting a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club. So in this case, we've got final year Dental Hygiene students who are looking at the Portsmouth Football Club players and they're carrying out a full oral health assessment.
This is a really big area of interest, looking at the link between oral health and the performance of elite athletes. There's a growing body of evidence to show that there is a link between these two areas.
Francesca Lee: So an athlete's diet consists of high sugar, so the advice I'd give to athletes is to minimise eating sugary foods and drinks and if they're going to have it, eat it in one sitting rather than snacking throughout the day.
Liam Vincent: I've just had a check up and they've removed some decay off my teeth. My teeth are a lot better now!
I never really considered the health of my teeth before, as much as I will do now.
Clark Robertson: I didn't really think about it too much in relation to actually playing football, but it's something I'll be more aware of moving forward.
Opening hours and contact information
The Dental Academy is open 9.00am – 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and until 4.00pm on Fridays. We are closed on weekends.
You can contact the Dental Academy at 023 9284 5285.