Authorities in Hong Kong have created a dental playland to take the fear out of going to the dentist. Professor Cynthia Pine, Dean of the University of Salford's Faculty of Health & Social Care and also consultant in dental public health for Salford Primary Care Trust, went to the internationally unique Oral Health Education Unit at the invitation of Hong Kong's Chief Dental Officer.

Every day the Unit hosts bus loads of school children who come to learn about brushing their teeth and what happens at the dentist's surgery. Professor Pine was also in Hong Kong at the invitation of the Vice President of the College of Surgeons to act as the external examiner for a new specialist programme in dental public health.

As well as her official examiner duties, she also took the opportunity to see how dental health is promoted in Hong Kong, with the aim of comparing these strategies with the UK.

Part of this was a trip to a centre which helps children learn to brush their own teeth through the use of mannequins – developing a key life skill for healthy teeth. Professor Pine said 'The visit to Hong Kong has helped me to set up a joint research project comparing different ways we can improve the dental health of children. Doing the same study in different parts of the world at the same time can helps us understand what works best. We can use our experiences to directly benefit the children of Salford and offer greater collaboration between our University and the University of Hong Kong.'