AN OLYMPIC hockey player who was cared for by Barts Health Trust staff during the 2012 Games after an accident on the field has been speaking about her own experience of dental care.

Bronze medalist and Great Britain’s Women’s Hockey Captain, Kate Richardson-Walsh MBE, suffered a broken jaw during GB’s opening game in Stratford in 2012.

An emergency dental team at the Olympic village made up of staff from Barts Health Trust and Queen Mary University London (QMUL) set to work to get her back onto the pitch.

After emergency surgery, the captain only missed two games.

On Friday (September 4) Richardson-Walsh returned to East London to officially open the new dental outreach centre in the heart of the Olympic Park.

"I looked back at my career recently and at all the injuries I’ve had and that was definitely the worst,” the 35-year-old recalled.

“I am delighted to be here to open this fantastic dental facility, which provides a learning environment for students and vital patient care for the people of East London.

“The treatment I received from the team here during London 2012 was second to none and enabled me to make a swift return to the games.

“The doctor was so confident that I would make it through and they really were miracle workers.

“I am extremely proud to see their work continuing as we build on the Olympic legacy.”

The clinic will provide dental care to communities of East London with some of the poorest oral health in the UK.

There will be a particular focus on paediatric dentistry, the centre will work to help improve the oral health experience of children in surrounding boroughs, such as Newham and Waltham Forest.

Set in the former Olympic Games polyclinic – now the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health & Wellbeing Centre, the state-of-the-art centre has 25 dental operatories with high tech digital operation and lighting, and cutting-edge digital radiography equipment.

QMUL dental students will be based at the clinic everyday as part of their clinical learning experience, and local residents will be able to visit the clinic with a referral from the main Dental Hospital in Whitechapel

Kate Richardson-Walsh’s surgery was performed by Dr Simon Holmes, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.

Dr Phil Taylor, clinical director for dentistry at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “Our local communities face some of the most challenging health needs of anywhere in the UK.

“The new dental outreach clinic enables us to provide vital care in a first class clinical environment right on their doorstep, making it easier than ever for local people to receive the specialist care they need.”