Winnings donated to charity

DENTAL students have presented £100 to a Plymouth charity as part of a new community award.

The Rayna DiModica Contribution to Society Award has been created by Peninsula Dental School professor Tracy De Peralta in memory of her mother.

The accolade recognises the best community-based projects by second-year students.

Prof De Peralta, the dental school's Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry at the Peninsula Dental, has presented the award for the first time.

The winners, who completed a project on oral health and the elderly, received a plaque and £100 to give to the organisation of their choice.

They donated the money to The Elder Tree, a voluntary support and befriending service that reaches out to isolated and vulnerable older people in Plymouth. The winning group of students included Milin Damani, Harbinder Dewgun, Davinder Dhanjal, Ann Duro, Hardeep Sidhu, Carianne Stokes and Narinderjeet Thanjal.

The group worked alongside Plymouth Age Concern and the Elder Tree to deliver high-quality dental care and support to older people in Plymouth.

By listening to the users of each organisation, the students were able to question their perceptions of what older patients need from dental care and so adapt the care, treatment and support they provided to their older patients. The project took place in the community, at Plymouth Age Concern, the Elder Tree in Cattedown and at the Peninsula Dental School's Dental Education Facility in Devonport.