Focus Group: Parents of 5-10yr olds born with cleft lip and palate

July 6, 2023

Would you like to help researchers understand the Barriers to accessing dental treatment for children with a cleft lip and palate?

Sam visited the cleft clinic at the hospital with his dad when he was five years old. The children’s dentist at the clinic examined his teeth and advised him about eating a healthy diet and brushing regularly. She also wrote a letter to Sam’s regular dentist, recommending fillings, extractions, and fluoride varnish.

When Sam turned seven years old, he went back to the clinic for an assessment for a bone grafting operation. Unfortunately, no dental treatment had been done, and the doctors had to delay the bone grafting procedure. Sam’s mouth wasn’t healthy enough. They wanted to make sure that his teeth were in good condition before the operation could take place.

What are the barriers to accessing dental treatment for children like Sam before a bone grafting operation?

Can you share your experience to help researchers from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital answer this question?  We are hosting a focus group on Zoom on Tuesday, 25th July, 7 pm-8.30 pm. This focus group will help develop the questions for the parent interviews at a later stage.

To participate, you will need to be:-

  • A Parent/Guardian of a child with a Cleft lip and palate
  • Your child is aged 5-10yrs
  • Your child is due to have a bone grafting operation
  • Your child has been seen by the cleft team for a dental assessment

We particularly want to hear from people who have had difficulties accessing their dental treatment and the different reasons which can affect this. However, if you have had a good experience accessing dental care, please also get in touch and think about what has made accessing dental care easy for you.

Participants will receive compensation from Alder Hey Children’s Charity for their time.

How to Participate

To register your interest in this project, please complete our online form.

If you have any questions about this focus group, please email Gillian McCarthy.

Register Your Interest

This is a qualitative research project funded by NIHR and Alder Hey children’s charity.