Increase in calls to Dental Helpline for second year running
The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF), the UK’s leading dental charity, has reported that calls to its Dental Helpline have increased for the second consecutive year.
Over the last twelve months, phone calls asking for advice on oral health have seen a 17% rise, with the main concerns and queries relating to ‘greater availability and accessibility to cosmetic dentistry, the prominence of sugar and diet in the media, and ongoing confusion regarding access to NHS dentists’. The greatest number of queries stemmed from topics including prosthetic dentistry, the majority with 15% of all calls, advice on finding a dentist (11%), NHS dentistry regulations (10%), and dentist charges (8%).
Since it was first set up in 1997, the free Dental Helpline has answered nearly half a million calls, and Karen Coates, one of the Helpline’s dental advisors, believes this is due to the fact it allows people to speak with another person directly, rather than having to trawl through information available elsewhere, such as online.
While technology continues to advance and changes the way we now search for advice and information, Coates says that the Dental Helpline has not experienced the same drop in calls because of this as other helplines have. ‘Knowing that we are speaking with a qualified dental professional gives many of us a greater sense of trust and confidence that the information being provided is reliable and comes from a source which is reputable,’ explains Coates.
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the BDHF, attributes the success of the Helpline to its ‘sustained presence of providing independent and expert advice’.
‘Whether people are sitting at home and have a thought or are sitting in the dentist waiting room and need urgent advice, the Dental Helpline has become an important tool for many thousands of people when it comes to providing free and impartial information on a whole range of topics relating to dental health.’
As the Dental Helpline moves forward, Dr Carter wants even more people to get involved so the Helpline can reach as many people as possible, not just via the phone but also online, so as to continue to improve the nation’s dental health.
