Protected Characteristics

Question 1

What are the 9 protected characteristics?

Answer 1

Age 
Disability
Race 
Religion or belief 
Sexual orientation 
Sex
Gender reassignment 
Pregnancy 
Marriage and Civil partnerships

Question 2

How does the protected characteristic age impact oral health?

Answer 2

Young:
Rely on the caregivers dental health education for maintaining oral hygiene, attending the dentist regularly and for dietary advice.

Old:
More medical conditions, decline in cognitive function i.e. poor memory and comprehension, frailty i.e. difficulty getting to the dentist and physical limitations i.e. difficulty in brushing teeth, putting in dentures.

Question 3

How does the protected characteristic disability impact oral health?

Answer 3

Difficulty accessing care - physical disability.

Dental anxiety if they have a learning disability.

Difficulty in communicating with the dentist.

Difficulty with capacity to consent.

Question 4

How would you make reasonable adjustments for disability?

Answer 4

Improving physical access;
Ground floor, ramps.

Ways to ease communication;
Large printed written consent, pictures, hearing loops.

Enabling treatment i.e. allocating longer appointments.

Question 5

How does the protected characteristic race impact oral health?

Answer 5

Variance between oral disease and different races.

Variance between medical conditions i.e. sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia (problems with GA)

Variance between cultural practices i.e. chewing tobacco (increases oral cancer)

Language barriers (overcome by translation services, information leaflets in different languages)

Differing attitudes