Barts Community Smiles

Barts Community Smiles was founded in 2017 by then-student Debra Chow who saw an unmet need for raising awareness about oral and dental health within the community of Tower Hamlets. Tower Hamlets is one of the highest ranking boroughs for prevalence of tooth decay in children under 5, higher than the London and national average figures.

POOR ORAL HEALTH: A LOCAL PROBLEM

Tooth decay is largely preventable yet it remains a serious problem. Poor dental health impacts not only the individual’s health but also their wellbeing and that of their family – this is especially the case for children. Tower Hamlets has previously been deemed ‘one of the worst places for dental health in the country’; over 60% of children in the borough did not see a dentist in 2017. Tower Hamlets is the third worst borough in London for tooth decay and well above the national average.

OUR AIMS

Running since 2018, Barts Communities Smiles aims to raise awareness of oral health and deliver basic oral health promotion in community and school settings. This involves teaching and motivating healthy behaviours that also positively impact general health.

Having already established links with local schools, community groups, other student volunteering groups, the Institute of Dentistry and a number of external sponsors, we can promise an exciting and valuable volunteering experience. This is a great chance to meet other students, develop important professional skills and make a difference in our local community.

EVENTS: 

• First term: Fresher’s Fair
• Welcome Freshers Talk
• Oral health promotion stalls alongside health campaigns
• Academic talks
• DentSoc Trade Fayre
• Special Care Dentistry Volunteering events and insight talks
• Collaborations with other student groups

Event sign-ups can be accessed via our volunteer Whatsapp group or by directly emailing our inbox or committee.

You can keep up to date with all our events and campaigns via our online spaces, including our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), our newsletters and our WhatsApp volunteers chat (let us know if you would like to join it!) 

BENEFITS TO VOLUNTEERS

• Practice your oral health communication skills.
• We provide general oral health promotion and event-specific training to all our volunteers through training workshops. 
• An opportunity to meet other dental student volunteers and make some new friends!
• A fun, interactive volunteering experience where you can make a really positive impact on community health. 

As a group, we’re an enthusiastic and friendly bunch passionate about helping our community. If you have any questions or new ideas, please do get in touch with us via any of our social media spaces – we’d love to hear from you! We are also open to any collaborations, so drop us an email at communitysmiles@bartslondon.com or contact us by our social media platforms if interested.

We very much look forward to meeting you!

2024-25 Committee:

Co-Presidents: Preksha & Tobi
Treasurer: Madina
Event Co-ordinators: Mariam & Luay
Clinical reps: Kavita & Fatima
Secretary: Matthew
Social Media/PR officer: Stella