A DENTAL therapist in Darlington has been given an award for her work in the local community.

Victoria Finnegan who works at Oasis Dental care in Woodland Road was awarded for the Best Outreach Programme at the company's awards in Coventry earlier this month.

Ms Finnegan, a dental hygiene therapist, regularly spends time working with local schools and organisations to try and improve the way people look after their teeth.

She said: "We do things like turning kids teeth purple with dye so can see where the bacteria are.

"We give people a health assessment and a score and then an opportunity to improve their lifestyle and when they come back we show them the difference."