Rachel Hopkins, MP for Luton and South Bedfordshire, has visited Community Dental Services CIC (CDS) Liverpool Road clinic in Luton.

Rachel was met at the clinic by CDS chief executive Helen Paisley, chief operating officer Glen Taylor, and clinical director Adrian Thorp for a tour of the multi-surgery clinic. She had the opportunity to talk to the clinical teams about the dental care they provide locally for adults with complex needs and paediatric patients who are referred into the service. It was also an opportunity to talk about the work CDS delivers on its mobile dental clinics in partnership with organisations like the Noah Project and local special schools.

Rachel said, “I enjoyed visiting CDS' Liverpool Road Clinic to learn about their vital services, both on-site and in the community. It was especially insightful to see how they tailor care for children and adults with more complex needs and the work they are doing to improve oral health outcomes in Luton South and South Bedfordshire. I look forward to continuing to work with them.”

With five-year olds in the most deprived areas of Luton being two and a half times more likely than the national average to have experienced tooth decay, Rachel also heard about CDS’s partnership with Luton Borough Council. The initiative featured dental ‘screen and intervene’ pop-up sessions for young children where under-10s were offered examinations, oral health advice, application of preventative fluoride varnish, and a pathway for treatment if necessary.

Helen said, “We were delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Rachel to our Liverpool Road clinic so she could meet our team and hear about the work we do to support patients in her constituency. We are really grateful for her work in highlighting the issues around dentistry and oral health in parliament and in her constituency. Her visit was the chance to discuss the needs of our patients and to explain some of the work we also do in the community in Luton.”

CDS’ patients typically have complex additional needs such as learning disabilities, severe autism, mental health issues, or are in situations that traditional dental care cannot reach, for example due to homelessness. They may be very anxious children, with high levels of dental need, unable to tolerate treatment in a regular dental practice.

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