Autumn 2022 saw us deliver our sixth annual award-winning harbourside tour for fishermen and their families across Cornwall and Brixham. Funded and delivered by Smile Together in partnership with The Fishermen’s Mission and Healthy Cornwall, SeaFit and their partner network of healthcare providers, this integrated healthcare initiative was once again a tremendous success!
We’ve proudly published our latest Impact Special Edition showcasing our #SmilesAtSeaUK 2022 tour, reaching out to the local fishing community at the harboursides and our thanks to everyone who helped us make a difference to those who rarely get to see a dentist due to the demands of their work.
We visited 5 harbourside locations over 8 days treating 103 fishermen (active and retired) and their dependent family members, 12% of whom hadn’t visited a dentist for 5 years or more. We did 37 fillings, 10 extractions/root removals, 25 scale and polish and 10 x-rays, and delivered oral health advice and guidance to everyone who came along.
13 patients were referred for urgent care/complex urgent minor oral surgery and/or to Royal Cornwall Hopsital Trust for suspected oral cancer. 99% rated our visit as excellent and said they’d visit us next year.
We gave out bottled water, fruit and healthy snacks as well as oral health packs to all fishermen and their families who attended which included top dental tips for the family along with a toothbrush, toothpaste and a toothbrushing timer. In some locations there were free health checks and healthy lifestyle advice and information from other healthcare providers as well as Covid vaccinations, and every eligible person who saw our dentist was entered into a free prize draw. We also encouraged the local community to bring along their old toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and associated packaging for recycling through our commitment to Colgate TerraCycle.
This year we added further value for coastal communities by supporting a Cornwall Health for Homeless pop up in Penzance at the start of our tour and visiting Newquay DISC with our mobile dental unit in our second week.
Our award-winning Smiles at Sea partnership project is such a great example of an integrated healthcare initiative where every contact counts!
Click here to download your digital version of our Impact Special Edition for 2022 and here to watch our ‘Checking for mouth cancer at sea’ 2022 video to encourage fishermen to regularly check for any unusual changes in the mouth, but of course anyone can use this for guidance.
We took lots of lovely photos from the harbourside in 2022 – visit our photo gallery here and see if you can spot someone you know!
