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Mouth Care Advice for Care at Home Services
This badge is awarded to workers and volunteers in care at home services who complete a module on Turas and demonstrate their knowledge of good oral health practice.
Good oral health has a direct impact on the comfort, dignity and wellbeing of the people you support, yet mouth care is easily overlooked.
This badge recognises your knowledge of how to support the oral health of adults and older people receiving care at home services across Scotland. Essential mouth care is highlighted as a priority by the Care Inspectorate and by Caring for Smiles, Scotland’s national oral health improvement programme.
By earning this badge, you will demonstrate that you:
- recognise the importance of good mouth care in supporting the health and wellbeing of the people you care for
- can apply the techniques and strategies you have learned in your day-to-day practice
- have shared your learning with colleagues to strengthen practice across your setting.
First-time Turas users will need to set up a free account to access the module mentioned in the criteria below.
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You must not use any generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to plan, write or improve your evidence for this badge.
To earn this badge, you will need to:
- complete the Mouth care in the care at home setting module on Turas
- explain your understanding of good oral health and the role of effective mouth care (100–200 words)
- describe how you have applied, or plan to apply, the techniques and strategies you learned to improve outcomes for the people you support, including any changes you have made or intend to make (200–350 words)
- describe how you have shared what you learned with at least one colleague, including when and how you did this and what their response was (50–100 words).
There is a maximum word count for this badge of 650 words.
Your application will be returned to you with a request for further evidence if it does not meet all the above criteria or is unclear which of these questions you are answering within your evidence.
There are no prerequisites for this badge.
You will need to submit a written statement of at least 350 but no more than 650 words in response to the questions asked in the criteria. You can write your statement directly on the badge application form or paste a link to your own blog or portfolio.
Remember to always write in the first person, using words like “I,” “me,” and “my” when talking about your learning and practice.
When preparing your evidence, consider the following guidance for each question:
Good oral health (100–200 words)
- Explain what you now understand about good oral health, including natural teeth and dentures, soft tissues, lips and diet.
- Consider what surprised you or what you learned that you didn’t already know.
- Relate what you learned to the particular needs of the people you support in their own homes.
Applying your learning (200–350 words)
- Be specific about the changes you have made or plan to make to support people with their oral care.
- Connect your learning to the people you support and the setting you work in.
- Consider any challenges you anticipate and how you would approach these.
Sharing your learning (50–100 words)
- State clearly how you shared your learning (for example, a team meeting, a conversation with a colleague or a handover).
- Describe what you shared and why you chose to share that aspect of your learning, including any response or follow-up.
- Reflect briefly on what difference sharing this learning could make to practice in your team.
We will also accept an audio or video submission if you prefer.
The evidence you submit will be viewable by anyone who you show your badge to. Do not include confidential or private information within your submission.
Badge issuer
NHS Education for Scotland Oral Health Improvement Team
We develop educational material to support Oral Health Improvement in priority groups.
Submit your application
Terms and conditions
1. I have read, understood and completed all activities listed in the badge criteria. The evidence I have provided answers each question from the criteria.
2. I confirm that the evidence I have submitted is free from personally identifiable information of others. Nobody can be identified, directly or indirectly, from any examples I provide.
3. I confirm that I have not used generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to plan or write any of the evidence I have provided. This is my own original work and I have not copied it from anywhere or anyone else. I understand that all AI assistance is banned under the rules for Open Badge applications.
4. I give consent for the SSSC and the people I share this badge with to use plagiarism and AI detection tools to validate the authenticity of the evidence I have submitted.
5. I understand that it may take up to 28 days to assess my application and that feedback cannot always be provided if it is unsuccessful.