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Oral Health Needs of Sex Workers

Posted on: 8 June 2026 by Dr Janine Yazdi-Doughty and Dr Gemma Ahearne in Blog

A group of people standing together in front of a presentation slide reading “If My Mouth Could Talk”.

On Thursday 4 June we held an exhibition on the oral health needs of sex workers in Liverpool, welcoming over 100 guests to the event space at the University of Liverpool's School of Law and Social Justice. Thank you to friends and colleagues who travelled from all over the country.

This included the launch of our research website and a hard copy of our zine displaying artwork from our participants and illustrator Isolde Godfrey. These diverse outputs are important for the impact we want the study to have, including an upcoming tour of UK dental schools.

Led by Chief Investigator Dr Janine Yazdi-Doughty (Dentistry), with Co-Investigator Dr Gemma Ahearne (Criminology), we are supported by a diverse research team across dentistry, public health and the charity sector: Stefanie Ryder-Walker, Posey Jolly, Heni Nagy, Amy Rawsthorne, Jude McMaster, Julie Smedley, Ella Flewitt, and Isolde Godfrey.

Visitors engaging with an exhibition display, writing comments on sticky notes and viewing artwork.

This is the first research of its kind globally, bringing together the disciplines of Dentistry and Criminology under a Public Health Criminology lens. There is a serious gap in the existing literature that our study seeks to address.

Access to oral health care is vital for violence reduction partnerships and must be a key priority for the VAWG agenda and all sex work strategies and services. Oral health stigma intersects with stigma around sex work, poverty, addiction and vulnerability. We want to challenge stigma against sex workers in both our research and our teaching.

We want to serve sex workers, and our study is reaching three cities so far (Liverpool, Manchester and London).

Audience seated in a lecture space at the University of Liverpool listening to a speaker presenting slides on oral health research.

We have a women-centred & co-produced approach:

  • Built strong relationships with trusted gatekeepers and service providers.
  • Built trust by conducting research in women-only spaces
  • Co-located with the Dentaid service
  • Ensured fair reimbursement for participants (vouchers of their choice), along with lunch and oral hygiene packs
  • Used flexible, participant led interview approaches.

Please see our website for outputs and ongoing work. We would love to have contact from people interested in our work.

Contact

Dr Janine Yazdi-Doughty: j.yazdi-doughty@liverpool.ac.uk

Dr Gemma Ahearne: gemma.ahearne@liverpool.ac.uk

Funding

This research is possible due to the following funding:

  1. HLS Participatory Research Grant
  2. UKRI IAA Diverse/Non-Traditional Output Grant
  3. UKRI IAA ESRC Grant
  4. Summer Internship fund