Mr Robert Witton

Research interests

Primary Dental Care
Health Services Research

Other research

Witton R. Open Wide and Step Inside. Research Outreach. Issue 111. http://cdn.researchoutreach.org/Flipbooks/RO111/index.html (2019)

Harman C, Allen Z, Nelder R, Witton R. Plymouth Oral Health Needs Assessment. Plymouth City Council (2019)

Warren S, Allen Z, Harwood P, Witton R. Special Care and Paediatric Southwest Needs Assessment Summary Report. NHS England and NHS Improvement (2019)

Allen Z, Harwood P, Ireland A, John J, Oliver J, Scott D, Sowerbutts J, Warren S, Witton R. South of England Paediatric and Special Care Needs Assessment Framework. Public Health England (2018)

Harwood P, Witton R, Allen Z. South West Orthodontic Needs Assessment. Public Health England (2015)

Harwood P, Witton R, Patel R, Woof M. South West Oral Health Needs Assessment. Public Health England (2014)

Moles D, Mills, I, Nasser M, Witton R. Factors that NHS general dental practitioners report influence their decision to make referrals from primary dental care to specialist surgical services for the extraction of teeth in North Devon. Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry (2012)

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

Doctor of Philosophy Martha Paisi ‘Obesity and dental caries in children in Plymouth’ 2014-2017

Grants & contracts

Research grants 

£69,166. “The impact of inter-professional education in the dental curriculum on students’ views towards social accountability.” Principal Investigator (2020)

£143,029 (external). Post-doctoral fellowship. “Identifying Factors Influencing Oral health Habits and Dental care Access among Children and Young People with Autism: Evidence Synthesis and Qualitative Stakeholder Research” Co-investigator (2020)

£216,484K (external). NIHR Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme. Health Visitor Oral Health Improvement Pilot (HVOHIP). Co-investigator (2019)

£2,500 (external). GSK and Association for Dental Education in Europe. Advancement of dentistry in society scholarship award (2018)

£5,800 (external). GSK Oral and Dental Research Trust. Co-investigator (2017)

£128,000 (external). Post-doctoral fellowship. To investigate the oral health impact of the dental school and PDSE in Devon and Cornwall. Co-investigator (2017)

£89,000 (external). Wrigley Global Oral Health Fund. To deliver and improve the “open wide and step inside” oral health education intervention in Plymouth primary schools. Witton R (2017)

£5,000 (internal). Plymouth University Medical Education Award ‘Exploring transformative and troublesome moments for medical and dental students during social engagement pathways’. Co-investigator (2016)

£60,000 (internal). Plymouth University. Preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of an intervention to prevent oral disease in a highly vulnerable child population. Co-investigator (2016)

£78,000 (external). Wrigley Global Oral Health Fund. To deliver the “open wide and step inside” oral health education intervention using Immersive Vision Technology in Plymouth primary schools. Principal Investigator (2015)

£60,000 (internal). Plymouth University. Investigation into the relationship between dental caries and obesity in young children. Co-investigator (2014)

£109,000 (external). Wrigley Global Oral Health Fund. To develop an innovative pilot oral health education intervention for children aged 4-5 years using Immersive Vision Technology. Principal Investigator (2013)

£5,000 (external). NHS North Devon. To investigate referrals from primary care to specialist services for routine exodontia. Co-investigator (2012)

Social impact and community grants 

£470,254 (external). NHS England. Devon supervised tooth brushing scheme and evaluation. Principal Investigator (2019)

£3,500 (external). North Yard Community Trust. “Creating Smiles” oral health resources box for distribution and training. Principal Investigator (2017)

£100,000 (external). Plymouth City Council. To deliver the oral health component of the Child Poverty Action Plan (2017)

£10,000 (external). Public Health England. To develop marketing campaign for children’s oral health in Plymouth. Principal Investigator (2017)

£9,200 (external). Active Plus. To co-deliver with ActivePlus “Talking Teeth” an oral health support network for veterans and isolated rural elderly in Cornwall. Principal Investigator (2017)

£3,000 (external). Drake Impact Fund. To train child care workers to become ‘dental buddies’ and to support delivery of supervised tooth brushing clubs. Principal Investigator (2016)

£10,000 (external). British Dental Health Foundation. To pilot supervised tooth brushing programmes in Surestart centres in deprived areas of Plymouth. Principal Investigator (2011)