We are a charity group who's primary objective is to support the homeless people of Glasgow, by providing them with supplies that are essential to maintaining oral health but are often times too expensive to buy.

There is currently a homelessness crisis in Glasgow, with more and more people becoming reliant on support from charities and food banks just to get by day to day.

As a group of dentists we wanted to know the number of dental products being given out at homeless shelters and soup kitchens throughout the city, and were shocked at how little attention was being given to the oral hygiene needs of these vulnerable people.

This spurred us onto the idea of collecting donations of toothbrushes + toothpaste from local dental practices, in an effort encourage them to become involved with the local community. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of practices and set up the Dental Initiative in 2015 in an effort to regularly interact with as many people as possible.

We now provide bags containing: A Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Dental Floss (and separate bags for denture cleaning/fixodent), Sugar Free Chewing Gum, Hats, Gloves, Socks, Hand Sanitiser, and Emergency Foil Blankets when it is cold.

This crowdfunding page is being set up to buy much needed supplies, however we are also very keen to get local dental practice's involved by not only helping with dental supplies but by asking volunteers to come along and get involved as well.

Homelessness is a reality that an ever increasing number of people have to deal with, and at such a chaotic time in someone's life their oral hygiene is often low down on their priority list. We want to offer support as regularly as possible to anyone who finds themselves in this situation.

For more information and updated please visit our Facebook page below:
https://m.facebook.com/dentalinitiative/

Thank you so much for reading about the Dental Initiative, if you would like to get involved please feel free to message!