Oral health improvement

BASCD’s role in oral health improvement is to ensure that oral and dental health is included within the general health considerations of organisations and individuals. The aim is to promote oral health through both the dental team and the wider workforce.

This page is split into two sections. In the first part you will find details of evidence-based responses to consultations on health-related policies, papers and reports that BASCD has worked on, either as the lead author or in partnership with other organisations. You will also find a list of organisations that BASCD supports with links to their individual webpages. In the second part of this page you will find a list of documents, toolkits and other resources that are based on evidence, and that can be used to underpin a variety of dental public health activities.

BASCD’s Oral Health Improvement Work

Representing members’ views

BASCD values the experience and knowledge of members and actively welcomes their input. It is BASCD’s ability to drawn on the wide range of expertise within the membership that makes the organisation the leading voice in the UK on population oral health.

From time to time, members will be notified of consultations and invited to respond. Members’ views will be collated along with those of Council in the official BASCD response. This is an area that BASCD Council wants to encourage to ensure that members’ views are accurately and effectively represented in the work that it does.

The most recent consultation that members were asked to comment on can be found via the links below.

Scientific Advisory Commission on Nutrition (SACN) consultation on ‘Feeding in the first year of life’.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/feeding-in-the-first-year-of-life-draft-sacn-report

Scottish Government’s consultation on ‘Reducing health harms of foods high in fat, sugar or salt’.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/reducing-health-harms-foods-high-fat-sugar-salt/

The Government consultation on restricting HFSS products from being promoted via volume-based price discounts (eg. multibuy deals) and in displays at checkouts, store entrances and aisle ends, was published on 12 January. The consultation document  can be viewed on the government website, along with some useful impact assessment background documents.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/restricting-promotions-of-food-and-drink-that-is-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt

Prime Minister Letter on Obesity

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s imminent plans to address obesity in the UK, Action on Sugar, Action on Salt and 47 leading health charities and researchers representing both the treatment and prevention of obesity, have urged Mr Johnson to implement all outstanding recommendations previously committed to in Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of the Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan.

Action on Sugar and Action on Salt’s traffic light Scorecard 2020: The road to preventing obesity analyses the Government’s commitments against progress of the three chapters, finding that  many of the core recommendations aimed at improving the lives of both children and adults living with obesity – such as calorie reduction targets and clearer nutrition labels on food and drink products – have disappointingly been side lined and are stuck at the traffic lights.

BASCD have added their support to Sustain’s campaign to urge the Prime Minister to take greater action on Obesity. This comes ahead of the planned Government announcement on the 27^th July.

It is anticipated that this plan will see restrictions on promotions of foods high in salt, fat, and sugar and confirmation of a ban on the sale of energy drinks to under-16s.

BASCD have support Action on Sugar and have added signature to the letter sent to the Prime Minister, below.

Letter to Prime Minister_Obesity

Final Obesity Scorecard 2020