The development of a designated dental pathway for looked after children.

Objective: To explore the impact of a community-based dental care pathway on the dental care of children entering residential or foster care.

Design: The study used qualitative data collected during interviews with children who used the service, their carers and key professionals involved in the pathway, and routine quantitative data concerned with care entry and the dental service use.

Results: The dental pathway facilitated dental care access for children entering statutory care, met the dental needs of service users even when dental care provision proved challenging, and offered a consistent dental service regardless of care moves. Improved interagency integration and support was reported by key professionals as was better dissemination and documentation of dental assessments and outcomes.

Conclusion: The dental care pathway had a beneficial impact on the dental access and experiences of children who used it, promoted better interagency working and facilitated record keeping. These findings call for extension of the service to a wider population to allow further evaluation of its impact and efficacy in different regional areas and contexts.