Funded by the Seafarers Hospital Society, supported by the Fishermen’s Mission and delivered by Smile Together

As part of National Smile Month we teamed up to offer fishermen and their dependent family members:

• A free check-up

• Immediate dental treatment

• Oral cancer screening

• Subsidised further treatment with Brighter Dental as recommended by our dentist on the day

#SmilesAtSea saw volunteers from Smile Together embark upon a two week tour in a fully equipped mobile dental unit, starting in Newlyn (18 & 19 June) and then harbourside in Hayle (20 June), Newquay (21 June), Padstow (22 June), Mevagissey (25 & 26 June) and Looe (27 June) before finishing in Brixham (28 & 29 June)

Seafarers Hospital Society funded the service on the harbourside, which meant that it was absolutely free for fishermen and their families, and any follow up treatment that was required was paid for by the charity too – all the patients needed to do was pay a standard NHS contribution

In some harbourside locations there were also free NHS Health Checks available from Healthy Cornwall which examined several elements – height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol, used to calculate the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and dementia. Men actively working in the fishing industry, aged between 40-74 years, could just turn up and have a check for free. These conditions can often be prevented, even if there is a family history. In some cases people were advised to visit their GP, if their results indicated more serious problems – this happens in around 11 per cent of Health Checks, and is a measure of the success of the programme in reaching more people who traditionally don’t take their health problems to their doctors. More info here: www.cornwall.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-cornwall/public-health-campaigns/fishermens-health-checks/

In some locations we were voluntarily joined by representatives from MacMillan Cancer, talking to fishermen about prostate cancer and the importance of regular health checks.

We were very happy to publish our Impact Special Edition showcasing this #SmilesAtSea success – see what else we got up to:

Every eligible person who saw our dentist was entered into a free prize draw, and many people saw us out and about, took photos and tagged us on Twitter or Facebook using #SmilesAtSea – we loved seeing their pictures!

For details of our mobile dental tour in 2017, click here

Registered charity numbers: Seafarers Hospital Society 231724 | Fishermen’s Mission 232822