© World Obesity Dr. Large is currently testing the model in real-world dental practices. She will join dental teams in England, measuring patients’ height and weight, with consent, at routine dental appointments. Those living with obesity will be invited into a brief intervention with their dental team: a conversation, resources and referral options. A comparison group receives only the conversation and information. By following patients and dental teams alike, she aims to see whether this approach is both acceptable and feasible in everyday dental practise. “This study is putting it all together—screening, discussion, and referral as part of routine dental care,” she explains. Across her review and surveys, Dr. Large repeatedly heard about a fear of upsetting patients, weight stigma, lack of training and guidance, time pressures and the absence of remuneration. “Dental teams are busy, and some forms of oral preventative care aren’t renumerated,” she notes. “If we want dental teams to take on holistic prevention, they need training, clear pathways, indemnity and regulatory support, recognition and pay.” Stigma, in particular, is a common theme throughout. “There is weight stigma in health care,” Dr. Large says. “Training on weight stigma must be part of any curriculum, alongside how to ask permission and have the discussion sensitively. National guidance in the UK is starting to weave this in, but it isn’t dental-specific yet.” Effective Conversations Dr. Hampl’s clinical advice dovetails with that emphasis on sensitivity. The entry point, she says, is already familiar to dentistry: sugary drinks, ultra-processed snacks, and frequent grazing, behaviours that drive both caries and obesity. “Sometimes framing it as caries prevention is the most acceptable way in,” she says. She encourages asking permission to talk about sugary drinks and snacks and then using motivational interviewing techniques to explore a family’s priorities and constraints. Rather than prescribing a prohibition, she prefers a “replace, don’t remove” approach: swap three daily sodas for a flavoured water or a fruit-infused option that still feels enjoyable. Start small, pick one or two realistic goals, and make changes family-wide so children aren’t singled out. “I’ve never met a parent who doesn’t want the best health for their child,” Dr. Hampl says, adding that role-modelling matters. If a parent keeps sugary drinks in the house, it’s unreasonable to expect a child not to want them. Equity and access also demand attention. Dr. Hampl points out that children in underresourced communities face higher risks for both caries and obesity, and that advice must align with what families can actually obtain—whether that’s safe drinking water or affordable fresh food. A brief, respectful question about access, paired with a short list of local resources, can help translate a good plan into a realistic one. “Great advice isn’t helpful if families can’t act on it,” she says. Motivational interviewing, says Dr. Hampl, is less about telling families what to do and more about guiding them to identify their own priorities and feasible next steps. She describes it as an open-ended, counseling-style conversation that puts parents in the driver’s seat of any change. Rather than demanding that a child stop drinking soda altogether, for instance, the dentist might ask permission to talk about drinks, explore whether sugary beverages are a concern, and then help the family choose a realistic alternative they can transition to. The goal is not wholesale dietary reform overnight, but one or two small, family-wide shifts that build confidence and momentum. Training on weight stigma must be part of any curriculum, alongside how to ask permission and have the discussion sensitively. 16 | 2025 | Issue 6 News and Events
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE5MTI=