Directory/Samantha Watt

AcademicDentist
ChildrenGeneral population
Tooth Decay (Dental Caries)Head and Neck CancerDental Trauma
Behaviour changeComplex interventionsPopulationCommunity-based
Co-designImplementation scienceQualitative studiesPatient and public involvement and engagement
Academic institutionPublic HealthGeneral Dental ServiceOral Health PromotionLocal authority
Research deliveryResearch leadership

My NIHR-funded research focuses on the reduction of sugar-sweetened beverages of children and young people attending dental settings. The research consists of a cross-sectional survey of children and young people attending dental settings to understand current consumption practices, co-design workshops with children and young people, parents/carers and oral health professionals to develop an intervention, and a feasibility study with embedded process evaluation. Patient and public involvement underpins every stage, with a particular focus on inclusive recruitment of underserved communities.

I have a keen interest in children’s oral health and reducing oral health inequalities. In 2022, I joined the NIHR-funded BRUSH study (optimising toothBrushing pRogrammes in nUrseries and ScHools). I received a pump priming grant from the Faculty of Dental Surgery Royal College of Surgeons to undertake research of the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages in children and young people attending dental practices. I was an editor of the Atlas of Health Variation in Head and Neck Cancer, a national report published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). This work highlighted the stark inequalities in head and neck cancer nationally and has called for action locally, regionally and nationally to reduce inequalities. I was also a contributing academic to the Northern Eight Universities ‘Child of the North’ report, an evidence-based report aimed at improving children’s oral health.