Sir, at a time when the homelessness crisis is worse than ever in our country, likely to only deteriorate with the inevitable depression post COVID-19, trying to make headway with integrating and treating the needs of the homeless is more important than ever so that we can make positive and sustainable changes. My suggestion is that we make community volunteering with the homeless an essential part of dental training. In doing so, we will be able to treat the increasing dental needs of the homeless, improve their integration into society and increase students' awareness of the shortcomings of society and the importance of multiagency work.

American models, including some pioneered by Johns Hopkins University, show that students taking part in 'service learning' projects, have had positive impacts in improving access to medical care and making sustainable changes to the health of the homeless.1 Some of these volunteering projects could require students to come up with their own initiatives and encourage them to collaborate with relevant stakeholders such as charities, the council and the homeless themselves to gain more insight into the issues surrounding this crisis.

In doing my own volunteering with the vulnerable, in the fantastic and under-recognised Sensory World in Dewsbury, I have realised again that spark that drew me into this profession: service that can utterly transform an individual's life. As dentists, we have a social responsibility to serve the most under-served, of which the homeless are the most poignant, and I want everyone to be able to feel the same immense gratification and benefits that I had felt in doing so.