The Mouth Matters in Mental Health Trial -2 (v1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A link work intervention to support dental visiting in people with severe mental health difficulties: The Mouth Matters in Mental Health Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness Trial.
IRAS ID
350197
Contact name
Jasper Palmier-Claus
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN94481360
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Aim: To test whether a link work intervention can help people with severe mental illness to access a dentist.
Background: Severe mental illness affects around 1% of people. People with severe mental illness often have problems with their teeth and gums. For example, they are more likely to have missing and decayed teeth, and gum disease. This can affect eating, speaking, and smiling. It can place extra burden on people.
Dentists can treat teeth and gum problems. However, people living with severe mental illness often find attending a dentist difficult. This can be for many reasons. People can feel helpless, anxious, and fearful about attending. They can find it difficult to book, plan, and get to appointments, or arrange access to free dental care.
We recently conducted a small trial where link workers helped people with severe mental illness to attend a dentist. This is called a link work intervention. The findings suggested that the link work intervention might help people to see a dentist and improve their quality of life.
Design: We will conduct a larger trial of the link work intervention to see if it works. We aim to recruit 480 people with severe mental illness who have not seen a dentist in over three years. People will either get their usual treatment, or their usual treatment plus the link work intervention. This will be decided at random.
People will complete assessments with a researcher at the start of the trial and after nine months. We will test two main outcomes. First, whether the link work intervention helps people to attend a dentist. Second, whether the link work intervention improves people’s quality of life. We will also explore if it is good value for money. We will conduct interviews with people to understand how different groups might use the link work intervention.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/EM/0030
Date of REC Opinion
12 Feb 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion