Young people's experiences of oral health in Northamptonshire

This is a report by Healthwatch Northamptonshire. The report looks at young people's oral health.

To complete this work focus group questions were devised by Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Public Health in North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. To support this message Public Health provided Healthwatch with age-appropriate oral health 
advice in the form of a leaflet and a toothbrush and toothpaste for every young person who took part. 

In December 2024, two focus groups were held. One in the West at Kingsthorpe College and one in the North at Kingswood Secondary Academy. There was a total of 35 young people took part in this work.

There are recommendations in this report:

• Although most children and young people that were spoken to across both focus groups had a positive experience it is still concerning that knowledge about oral hygiene and access to services is inconsistent and that some young people have reported being in pain for quite awhile before getting access to services.
• Therefore, Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire recommends that we continue to work with commissioners, service providers and Public Health to raise awareness of and campaign for better access to dentistry for all.
• As there are national issues with access to dentistry for all ages there is potential to carry out a more in-depth survey with children, young people and families across the whole of Northamptonshire, which we would very much welcome to be a part of.

There are no follow up actions in this report. Providers have both responded.