Services
Dementia friendly service
Gloucestershire Specialist Dental Service is a dementia-friendly service.
On this page
Specialised dentistry for dementia awareness
All staff are required to undertake dementia awareness training at induction, and members of the dental team are encouraged to complete additional training to enable the provision of high-quality, person-centred care for our patients. Many of our staff are also dementia friends.
Meet our specially-trained team
Within Gloucestershire there is specific multiagency dementia training available that enables healthcare staff to become dementia leads and dementia link workers.
Dementia leads help improve the lives of people with dementia and their carers who access their service in collaboration with others.
Dementia link workers
- Provide sustain excellent person-centred care within Gloucestershire
- Support and facilitate the development of expertise within Gloucestershire’s health and social care workforce
- Provide skills development opportunities for health and social care staff
Gloucestershire Specialist Dental Service has one dementia lead and six trained dementia link workers who act as points of contact for all the dental team, service users and their carers.
The dementia link workers provide regular update training sessions at team meetings and can also advise service users and carers about oral health and accessing oral care services.
We provide dementia-friendly environments to enable our patients to access oral care with as much ease as possible. For some service users who have more complex needs due to dementia, dental check-ups and simple treatments may be available as a home visit. Each individual is assessed independently for this service, once a referral is received.
When to use this service
- Do you or someone you care for find it difficult to communicate with those around them?
- Does your/their disability impact on your ability to accept dental care?
- Would they be able to understand and consent to their treatment or would others need to make a decision in their best interest?
- Do you/they require assistance to carry out and maintain oral hygiene?
You may be eligible to be treated by our service. We accept referrals from general dental practitioners and healthcare professionals. Ask about being referred to us for your dental treatment.
