Meet me where I am: Developing community connections for dental research

This is an inclusive family play day which is held every month throughout spring and summer. Activities include arts, crafts, wellbeing, and educational activities for children. This event was developed through collaboration with Dr Vicky Armstrong, a registered Art Psychotherapist and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychology at the University of Dundee.

Faith Campbell, Wellcome-funded Doctoral Research Fellow, and Dr Heather Cassie Baxter and THIS Institute Research Fellow, alongside Sophie, a child Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) member attended the event on Saturday 20th May. The team gave children and families the chance to play with dental games, provided tooth brushing supplies, educational resources and the opportunity to chat to researchers. Toothbrushing supplies were kindly donated by Tayside Childsmile. 

The event was an ideal way to provide oral health education in the community and engage with the public, whilst at the same time giving those who may not normally be exposed to them, opportunities to be involved in research. This involved providing information and the facility to sign up to the Dundee Dental PPI group.  The research team also used this as an opportunity to collect ideas on involving children as PPI partners. After explaining what research is, almost all children said they would be keen to be involved. They expressed that they would like to do so in fun and creative ways such as through art, video diaries, and crafts. Some children suggested science experiments and are actively discussing ideas with our lab-based colleagues about how we can involve them. 

It was interesting to hear how we can facilitate children to get involved in research, for example ‘not using dental language’, ‘doing it with people I trust’, using animals and being well organised. This is useful to consider when planning how we conduct our research in future. Children were also very forthcoming in telling us how we can thank them for being involved in research in the most meaningful way. Many suggested vouchers or money, with others suggesting toys, stickers, and certificates. 

Some children created art for us too. They drew about their feelings about attending the dentist. This was a great insight into a child’s dental experience and an interesting starting point for further research. This drawing appears to show mixed feelings, although the child was scared (sic) they drew a smiling face and so also had positive views of going to the dentist. 

Following this event there has been a huge amount of interest from families about being involved in research at Dundee Dental School, and a significant increase in registrations to the Dundee Dental PPI group as a result. The team that attended the event plan to work with members of the PPI group to support ongoing oral health research and in particular Faith’s PhD which is exploring maternal long term health conditions and child oral health. 

Often being involved research can seem intimidating and something that is not considered by people as being ‘for them’. We hope that in attending this event we highlighted opportunities available to everyone. Putting a friendly face to the term ‘researcher’ may have helped to break down barriers to research involvement for the public. The team are looking forward to developing the connections made and working with those who signed up to be PPI members. 

If you or anyone else you know but like to find out more or join the Dundee Dental PPI group please complete this form.

This event was part of a series of community engagement events which the team are hosting in collaboration with third sector organisations to engage with the local community and involve them in research, particularly targeting those who are often underrepresented in PPI such as children and mother with multiple long-term conditions. The next event will be at Dundee International Women’s Centre in May to explore further opportunities for public involvement and engagement with research. For further information please contact Faith Campbell at fcampbell001@dundee.ac.uk.