As is every 20th of March, today is World Oral Health Day, promoted by the World Dental Federation (WDF) to raise awareness of the importance of oral health. As oral diseases can have an impact on people’s general health, well-being and quality of life, every year thousands of organisations, associations and companies around the world, whose business is related to oral health, join in a spirit of celebration.

It is an opportunity to highlight the many efforts that have been promoted over the years which has resulted in an unquestionable improvement in the oral health of millions of people around the world. But it should also be a time for reflection, and for recognising that there are still groups that do not have the dental care they deserve.

Around 4 million older people in the United Kingdom, which represent 40% of people over 65 years, have a limiting illness or disability, of whom 500,000 live in care homes. The vast majority of them have tooth decay, compared to 40% of those over 75s who do not, as well as other pathologies like periodontitis.

Most of them are dependent people or suffer mobility problems, so they cannot access the oral health services they need and are left completely unattended. Poor oral health can affect their ability to eat, speak and socialize normally, as well as become a risk factor in the development or worsening of other illnesses.

For this reason, Lura Care has been working since 2015 to break the mobility barrier, so that all these people have the care they deserve and at a cost adapted to their affordability. It has been a challenging time, during which we have developed an innovative model of mobile dentistry services adapted to care homes to avoid patient travel as far as possible.

Today, we can confirm that it is a completely viable model, reaffirmed by more than 100,000 patients we have attended in United Kingdom, Spain and Italy combined and the trust placed in us by the more than 1,000 care homes and day centres with which we collaborate and by the overall rating of 8.6 given to us by the relatives and carers of the patients we have treated.

As a social impact company,  Lura Care is committed to contributing to the promotion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as health and well-being (SDG 3), the reduction of inequalities (SDG 10) and the alliances to achieve goals (SDG 17). Including fighting against the phenomenon of ageism that relegates millions of older people and limits their rights so that they can enjoy an optimal quality of life.

We further assist in doing this by reinvesting part of our revenues in the centres through bonuses to contribute to the improvement of their services, we offer interest-free and flexible financing options for treatments so that no person is left without the care they need for financial reasons, and we carry out training activities in the centres to promote preventative care and improve healthy habits.

But while we are very proud of what we have achieved, there is still much to do. Home dental care services are a real social need, and how we address this need is what defines us as a country and as a society.