Dentists and oral health professionals

Sooner or later everyone needs help keeping their teeth healthy. But dentistry goes beyond teeth. Oral health professionals can also spot the first signs of some medical conditions such as oral cancers.

For some people getting the help they need with their oral health is a step they struggle to take. Experiences of racism and discrimination can make a dental phobia significantly worse, making it hard for patients to engage with services early on when prevention can still make a difference.

We have collected resources suitable for all dentistry and oral health professionals, including hygienists and therapists. Along with looking at the impact of racism on dentistry patients, some of these resources also examine how to improve diversity and inclusion within the oral health workforce.

Some of the resources created for the Dare to CARE project feature accounts of racism experienced by individuals. These scenarios are anonymised, but have been created using real stories taken from a range of sources.

Policies and statements

Dental Schools Council: An update on our work to tackle racism and inequality

Research and reports

Household Income and Children’s Unmet Dental Care Need; Blacks’ Diminished Return (Open Access)
Equality, diversity and inclusion within Dentistry: A profession wide commitment (.PDF)
Racism and oral health inequities; An overview (Open Access)
The impact of interpersonal racism on oral health related quality of life among Indigenous South Australians: a cross-sectional study (Open Access)
The complexities of race and health (download the PDF).
Joint Committee Report: Black people, racism and human rights (report and oral evidence transcripts available)
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within Dentistry: A profession wide commitment
Access to oral care is a human rights issue: a community action report from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada (Open Access)
Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare: A Rapid Evidence Review - NHS Race & Health Observatory
Pulse Oximeter Bias Highlighted in Rapid Review - NHS Race & Health Observatory
Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurement (Correspondence)
Ethnic disparities in health & social care workers’ exposure, protection, and clinical management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK (Open Access)
BAME: A report on the use of the term and responses to it (.PDF) - Birmingham City University
Over half of ethnic minority NHS leaders consider quitting due to racism (Paywall)
Mind the Gap: A handbook of clinical signs in Black and Brown skin
Black Lives Matter: the impact and lessons for the UK dental profession
The Lancet Series on racism, xenophobia, discrimination, and health - Selected papers.
Medical Workforce Race Equality Standard – a commitment to collaborate - NHS England

Support and Advocacy Groups

The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN)
Refugee Action - This charity supports refugees who wish to settle in the UK. In particular their Refugee Voices page is a helpful resource for understanding the lived experiences of those seeking asylum in the UK.
The Runnymede Trust - An independent think tank focusing on race equality in the UK.
Black & Brown Skin - Founded by medical student Malone Mukwende, this platform aims to educate clinical staff on the presentation of various conditions on black and brown skin. It includes free digital copies of Mukwende's book "Mind the Gap", along with online resources including head and neck conditions.

News and blogs

General Dental Council - Black Leaders Matter: leadership in dentistry, part 1 and part 2.
Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO) sets up action group to tackle discrimination in dentistry
British Dental Association - Dentistry and unconscious bias
Diversity in dentistry: One practice's story
How do we fight racism?
Tackling racism in dentistry
We need to talk about racism
Final Report of the Diversity in Dentistry Action Group: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Racism embedded in NHS organisational culture and norms prevents progress on healthcare staff inequities - King's College London News Centre
Racism: we have to stop looking the other way - Roger Kline

General resources

Discrimination and issues of equality and diversity within the health and care workforce - The King’s Fund
Civil Society Report: Race and Racism in England
School of Health & Social Care: Procedure for raising concerns in partner organisations (.docx) - In alignment with the university’s policy statement on equality, diversity and inclusion, we have created a document that sets out how our School supports students and staff who experience racism and discrimination during practice placements. You may wish to develop something similar in your place of work.

"I want to uncover more of my unconscious biases. I would like to understand ways to challenge my own and others' biases when they arise, and I want to learn new ways to think about diversity beyond self vs other."