From Dental Nurse to Super ‘Teeth Saving’ Woman. Meet Gemma Akinade Senior Oral Health Practitioner for Henry.

Gemma's role is to improve the oral health outcomes of children under 5 and reduce health and social inequalities by providing access to early intervention and prevention as part of the London borough of Waltham HENRY High Impact Team.

HENRY is a charity that supports families to provide the best possible start in life for young children

In 2016 HENRY was commissioned by the Waltham Forest Council’s Head of Public Health to work in partnership with public health and the NHS services to improve the health outcomes for children under five in four areas - infant feeding, healthy eating, oral health and speech and language development.

‘I’m an experienced dental health nurse and passionate about prevention, believing that parents overwhelmingly want the best for their children - and with the right kind of strengths-based, non-judgemental support, can develop and sustain healthy family oral health routines. I support families from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities and have developed oral health interventions to reach vulnerable families including Children’s Centre dentist and fluoride varnish programmes.

I am also responsible for training health and early year’s practitioners (school nurses, reception teachers, foster carers, childminders, health visitors) to support families to develop oral health routines and prevent decay.’ Gemma Akinade