#ALittleTripToTheDentist – Anita Kundra

“I’m lucky to have a wonderful team at oraco that really values opportunities to reach beyond our clinical work to try and effect change in the population we serve. Between us, we’ve seen too many children with varying levels of decay, much of which could have been prevented had we seen them earlier.

“‘A Little Trip To The Dentist’ struck us as a fantastic campaign idea from the moment we volunteered to get involved. We’d been plugging away in our surgeries for a long time trying to get families to think about oral health sooner, so to finally have something to badge it up as so parents could really understand the message is very welcome.

“Our initial involvement saw me and one of our dental nurses stepping in front of the camera to appear in photographs for the campaign. We’d managed to source two families who both had children at about the right age who were also willing to be involved, and we had a great afternoon posing for pictures which were used on the posters we’re now displaying in our practices.

“During our conversations with the Communications team at NHS England, we’d been told there was a chance we may be called on to take part in media coverage if there was any interest. Next thing we knew, the BBC were at the surgery with a big camera in tow and I was to appear on BBC Midlands Today that evening!

“The idea of having someone film you doing your every day job is quite daunting, but once the cameras were rolling it was actually quite good! The scariest part was being interviewed, but I just had to remember that the journalist was there to do a positive piece about the campaign and the work we’re doing to support it, so he wasn’t going to ask anything I didn’t already know the answer to.

“I’d highly recommend more dental practices get behind the campaign and, where there is opportunity, to work with the communications team to help spread the word. It was incredibly rewarding and has given us a deeper understanding of the work which goes on behind the scenes.”

Dr Anita Kundra
Dentist, oraco