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News - From 1 November 2023, if you pay for your NHS dental treatment you may notice an increase in treatment charges. These increases are necessary to ensure continuation of NHS dental services and reflect the increase in cost of delivering the care required for patients. Further information can be found here: Receiving NHS dental treatment in Scotland – NHS inform

We were delighted to be finalists at the VHS Conference poster competiton on Wednesday 25th October to showcase our exciting Eatwell for Oral Health project.  

We are also starting new Eat Well for Oral Health sessions in East and Midlothian in November, to support those communities and to train support workers for consistant messaging and support going forward.  To find out more, please contact Jo at [email protected]  

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About our project

Edinburgh Community Food are delighted to be partnering with LINKnet Mentoring to offer a project called Eat Well for Oral Health.

Eat Well for Oral Health is a community-based food skills and nutrition project to drive oral health improvements for all living in vulnerable circumstances and affected by socio-economic and race inequalities across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

It is designed to improve child, family - and targeted communities - oral health by sharing diet and nutrition knowledge and enhancing cooking skills and confidence using a community-based approach.

   

Our FREE 6 week cooking and nutrition courses help people gain confidence in cooking nutritious affordable meals and providing oral health awareness information.

Participants will learn how to:

• cook nutritious meals to enjoy with others or take home
• achieve a healthy balanced diet and understand how diet relates to oral health.

Participants will receive:

• support and advice on oral health
• guidance on how to access an NHS Dentist
• free nutrition and oral health resources

I thank you for conducting the course, everything is presented and prepared at a high level. Here I learned a lot of useful information and I hope to change my life for the better. Thanks for the good time with you. Zara

Willow loved attending our sessions over the summer holiday's along with her mum.  She loved to demonstrate how to brush teeth properly with the help of K9 the dog!

                                                       

                      

We had the pleasure of Gillian Leslie, Deputy Chief Dental Officer attend one of our sessions at Stanwell Nursery on 1st March 2023. Gillian and her colleague Francesca took part in the session and presented participants with certificates for completing the course.

It was great to see the project in action and to hear about the benefits it has brought to participants.  Thanks for having us join the session today.  Gillian Leslie, Deputy Chief Dental Officer 

        

To find out more, please contact Jo Howie, Food and Health Development Officer at [email protected] or call 0131 467 7326. To register, please complete this Registration Form. 

The project links with participants through existing community groups, to focus relevant messaging, provide support and to strengthen mutuality within each group. Key delivery components are:  Healthy Eating, Information & Awareness, Practice, Advocacy, Connections, and Capacity Building, each with a firm emphasis on empowering people to get well and stay well.

Read what we've been up to in our first year: Eat Well for Oral Health Newsletter March 2023

  

Useful Resources: 

Childsmile

NHS Inform - General Dental Services

Emergency Dental Access - English

Emergency Dental Access - Ukranian

Eat Well Your Way - to help people in Scotland make healthier food and drink choices when planning and shopping, preparing food and eating out.

NHS Forth Valley – Multicultural Nutrition

Healthy Diet and Lifestyle - Older Ethnic Minorities

British Heart Foundation - Taste of South Asia - 30 easy to prepare Asian recipes to help cook traditional dishes in a healthier way.

Action on Sugar Breakfast Recipes

Budget-cookbook-Zoe Griffiths.pdf

VegPower UK

NHS Education for Scotland offer free training on oral health (including Open Badges). CLICK HERE for more information and to register for TURAS Learn. 

Eat Well for Oral Health is a collaboration:  Edinburgh Community Food and LINKnet Mentoring as lead partners responsible for delivery of Eat Well for Oral Health, The Scottish Government providing overall governance and funding, and lead management provided by NHS Lothian’s Health Improvement Team with regular involvement of other Boards’ Health Improvement Teams.