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Oral health

Posted By Colgj57

"Oral health"

About: Children & Family Nursing Services / Oral Health

(as a service user),

Dental visitor came to house to educate me on childsmile

I felt like instead of being a conversation on informative learning it was more of a talking to as if I was neglecting my sons oral health. 

I understand the importance of oral health, and I guess maybe some parents are unaware however I felt like I was being given into trouble.

The information was great to hear but I didn’t appreciate the way it was delivered to me 

Also there were no alternatives for infants allergic to dairy which I didn’t appreciate for calcium intake

I read a study on sippy cups being bad for mouth development and I was completely dismissed. I felt like I was being told off for encouraging my son to drink from an open cup, something he will be doing his whole life so why not start now, and told well he needs to do it himself? I understand that hence why I am teaching him to hold his own open faced cup? 

All in all I did appreciate the visit. Some parents aren’t aware of dental health and the stats show that hence the need for the education. The delivery should be worked on. 

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Responses

Response from Lynn Smith, Service Manager Children & Families, Specialist Children's Services, Inverclyde Health & Social Care Partnership 2 months ago
Lynn Smith
Service Manager Children & Families, Specialist Children's Services,
Inverclyde Health & Social Care Partnership

Submitted on 15/09/2025 at 13:33
Published on Care Opinion at 13:39

Hi

my name is Lynn Smith and I am the service manager for oral health and Child smile

I am sorry you felt you were being given into trouble, this is something that I am happy to discuss individually with you and pick up with the team to look at the delivery of the information.

I am glad that you found the information helpful

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Response from Laura Wright, Oral Health Practitioner, Children's Services, Inverclyde HSCP 2 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
Laura Wright
Oral Health Practitioner, Children's Services,
Inverclyde HSCP

Submitted on 18/09/2025 at 17:18
Published on Care Opinion on 19/09/2025 at 09:09

Good Afternoon Colgi57,

Thank you for taking the time to feedback on the visit you had from one of our Dental Health Support Workers. I am sorry you felt like you were given a talking to and we will certainly feedback to the team and take this into consideration in our approach in future. I am, however, glad you found aspects of this visit helpful.

In relation to your comment on allergies I would recommend you speak to your Health Visitor about this, see if they can help and possibly a referral to dietetics would be beneficial. It not within the remit of the Oral Health Team to give advice on and would require specialist advice.

With regard to the use of free flow cups this is part of our Childsmile guidance, we recommend the one we provide is used to transition from a bottle to this, in the interim, prior to moving on to an open cup. I appreciate information can be misinterpreted and the cups that you need to suck from and are non-spill aren't advised. These can impact on development of teeth and speech, as you said. It's great you are teaching your child to drink this way from an open cup, a personal choice, and not something I would discourage.

Again; thank you so much for your feedback, we really do value input, it helps us shape the service we deliver and patient centred care is very high on our agenda. Should you wish to discuss this further please don't hesitate to get in touch via your Health Visitor.

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Response from Laura Wright, Oral Health Practitioner, Children's Services, Inverclyde HSCP 3 weeks ago
We have made a change
Laura Wright
Oral Health Practitioner, Children's Services,
Inverclyde HSCP

Submitted on 22/10/2025 at 16:59
Published on Care Opinion on 23/10/2025 at 09:34

Good afternoon,

I just wanted to highlight the change we are planning to make in relation to your feedback. We have booked all staff on a training course to look at a more interactive delivery approach going forward rather than patients feeling they are being talked at. This is something that is being rolled out nationally and we are keen to adapt in our service delivery. We are always looking for ways to develop and improve and would like to thank you for taking the time to give your feedback.

Kind Regards

Laura Wright

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