Research is ongoing on how to help the oral health of foodbank users in Gateshead amid “horror stories” of clients performing their own dentistry. According to council figures, as of 2024/25 alone, foodbanks have helped 7,891 people with emergency food parcels.
Gateshead Council’s health and wellbeing board were informed that research is on-going on how to best help the health of those requiring assistance from foodbanks, particularly in relation to oral and dental health.
According to research lead Dr Kate Haddow, during her research she had encountered “horror stories about people performing their own teeth removal”, and one client who had to refuse a bag of apples due to having no teeth.
Dr Haddow added: “This was about me going into the foobank and saying as a researcher how can i help the foodbank and how can you guys as experts help me going forward and how can we work together to build on what the council wants to do.
“After many debates we decided that the poor health of the foodbank visitors was the priority. It was evident that people are in poor physical and mental health, and there is a real interest in the poor oral health of foodbank clients.”
The report on the council’s current foodbank collaboration also states that food insecurity is a “growing problem in Gateshead” and the official statistics will only tell part of the story. The report reads: “This only accounts for a part of the picture of food aid with some food aid outlets not covered in data around food aid. Therefore, food insecurity is likely to be higher than evidence shows.”
It is also hoped the research will inform the formation of the council’s anti-poverty strategy and help the work of the ‘Food Steering Group’ within the local authority.
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