September 2013

Key words: health education, dental, oral health, dental general practices, child, preschool, infant, pilot projects This paper outlines a number of issues arising from a primary-care and community-based oral health education (OHE) and disease prevention pilot targeting children aged 0–7 years in County Durham and Darlington during a six month period in 2011-12. The paper highlights the key practical challenges experienced by the NHS dental practices that provided OHE predominantly in community venues and the issues arising for those involved in managing the pilot on a day to day basis. Finally, the paper suggests potential solutions and learning points for dental public health practitioners. The work described in this paper relates to three relevant dental public health competencies: strategy development and implementation; strategic leadership and collaborative working for health and oral health improvement. Abbreviations used : IMD, Index of Multiple Deprivation; LSOA, Lower Super Output Area; NHS, National Health Service; OHE, Oral Health Education; OHI, Oral Hygiene Instruction; OHP, Oral Health Promotion; PCT, Primary Care Trust.