Data into Action joins oral health roundtable at University of Chester
Published date: Wednesday 17 September 2025
The Data into Action programme took part in a roundtable event at the University of Chester this month, exploring the vital role of oral health in supporting healthy ageing.
The roundtable event – titled “Oral frailty and pre-ageing oral health strategies” and held on 15 September 2025 – brought together experts to explore how poor oral health is linked to a range of other health conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Despite these connections, there is currently limited understanding of how oral health interacts with other conditions within clinical services.
The session highlighted opportunities for the NHS to improve how services are aligned, including taking a more preventative approach to care to improve health outcomes for patients.
Andrea Astbury, Data into Action Programme Director, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said: “Oral health is often overlooked when we think about ageing, but its impact on overall health and wellbeing is significant. By incorporating oral health into the way we assess and care for older and frail populations, we can make a real difference to people’s lives.”
A key area of future work will focus on how to assess oral frailty in older and frail populations. This may include developing new risk algorithms that take oral health into account. These algorithms could then be used in proactive neighbourhood care models, ensuring the most vulnerable are identified and treated appropriately.
This work is being led by Professor Paul Kingston, Director of the Centre of Ageing and Mental Health at Chester University, along with his colleagues Dr Andrew Dickenson, Chief Dental Officer for Wales, and Professor Martin Vernon, Consultant Geriatrician and former National Clinical Director for Older People.
Frailty is an NHS Cheshire and Merseyside priority, and the Data into Action programme is working to strengthen its data-led approach in this area. For more information, contact the Data into Action team.