What is The Return Project?
Lots of people put off visiting the dentist until they have a problem. Toothache can mean sleepless nights, time off work and a lot of bother. Some people even go to their doctor rather than a dentist and can end up needing antibiotics too.
RETURN is a project that aimed to develop and test some material to help adults who only use dental services when they have a problem get back into dental services routinely.
The project started in August 2018. The project team worked closely with local people to develop material (booklets and videos) patients would find useful. In 2020 we did a small feasibility study, and this led to a big study involving around 1,200 people, who were asked to take part when they visited a dental service with an urgent problem. We kept in touch with everyone for 18 months. This helped us see if the material worked to help people get back into routine dental care.
Project Timeline
Project start August 2018
Intervention Materials development from start until December 2019
Feasibility study start date January 2020 – March 2020, feasibility follow-up finished July 2020
August 2020 – July 2021 preparing for the main trial
August 2021 main trial starts, September 2022 main trial ends
January 2022 main trial follow-up starts – April 2024 main trial follow-up ends
October 2025 full results of the study published
The RETURN Team
Research led by
In collaboration with
This study/project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) [PGfAR project reference RP-PG-0616-20004]. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
