STAFF at Penlan Dental Care in Pwllheli swapped tooth care for dementia awareness this week when they signed up for a Dementia Friends session at their practice.

Dentists, nurses and reception staff took part in the one-hour session, an Alzheimer’s Society initiative, to improve their understanding of dementia and to help make their practice more dementia friendly.

Eleri Griffith said: “We all know somebody who has been affected by dementia. We meet people living with dementia in our work on a regular basis and it has been so helpful to learn about the issues they and their families face.

“Now we are all Dementia Friends, it has changed the way that we think, talk and act about dementia”.

Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative and there are now more than 45,000 Dementia Friends in Wales and 1.7m Dementia Friends throughout the UK.

A Dementia Friends Information Session is a fun, interactive way to learn a little about dementia and how it can affect people’s lives. The sessions are free and cover five key messages that everyone should know about dementia, through activities and discussion.