Meet the jury: the organisation of oral health care (including the role of dental hygienists in the healthcare landscape) in the United Kingdom by prof. Brocklehurst

You are cordially invited to a  Meet the jury lecture by Prof. Paul Brocklehurst.

What to expect?  
First, we will briefly introduce our Population Studies Oral Health research group. Then we will give
the floor to Prof. Brocklehurst, who will share his experience and insights on the organisation of oral
health care (including the role of dental hygienists in the healthcare landscape) in the United
Kingdom. After the lecture, there will be time for questions and comments from the participants.

About the speaker
Prof. Paul Brocklehurst is an NHS Consultant with Public Health Wales and an Honorary Professor at
University College London and Cardiff University. He leads on oral health intelligence in Wales, including
the Dental Epidemiology Programme. Prior to his role in Public Health Wales, he was the Director of the
Clinical Trials Unit in North Wales and the Deputy Chief Dental Officer for Wales. He remains an ac ve
academic and to date has published over 110 papers, a racted over £10M in grant income and was on the
2021 REF panel. His research interests include workforce, care for older people, role-subs tu on,
par cipatory research, trials in complex se ngs and implementa on research.

Prof. Brocklehurst is coming to Belgium for the public defence of drs. Patricia Vandenbulcke’s
doctoral thesis entitled “Process and outcome evaluation of the Oral Health Screener (OHS) within
interRAI and its training: a cluster randomised controlled trial”. on 25 March. In her research, drs.
Vandenbulcke investigated the impact of oral screening by non-oral health professionals on the oral
health of residents in residential care homes.

If you are interested in attending or receiving a copy of the thesis, please let us know via this link.

Practical info
Date: Tuesday March 24th 2026 
Location: auditorium AZK, UZ St. Raphaël (to be reached by the main entrance, Kapucijnenvoer 7,
Leuven)
Time: 17:30h – 19:00h 

Admission is free. You can support our research by becoming a member of De Mondgenoten
Would you like to deepen your knowledge of dental public health and participate in a discussion
about how the organisation of oral care in the United Kingdom could inform our own practices?
If so, be sure to register via this link .