TAKE-up of dental services by people with poor reading skills on a Kidderminster estate went up after the benefits were explained verbally on the doorstep.

With tooth decay and general oral hygiene a longstanding problem in Oldington and Foley Park, Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust set out to inform residents of the availability of new dentistry services.

Working with the estate's Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder group, the trust sent teams of volunteers to people's front doors to identify which ones were not registered with a dentist. The initiative led to 753 residents signing up to the new dental services.

The issue came to light as an independent national report into neighbourhood management claimed the service was at a "make or break" point.

Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders were set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2001 to help residents of the target areas improve local services. The new report, "Neighbourhood Management - at the Turning Point?", described the 35 pathfinders as a "valuable tool" in regenerating deprived areas.

It warned, however, the scheme could become a "missed opportunity" unless its value was recognised.

Advantages claimed for the neighbourhood management system included improved relationships between members of communities and service providers, such as local authority housing services and schools.

The report stated: "The main benefits so far have been to make the deprived pathfinder neighbourhoods safer and cleaner and help shape the services that are better joined up, more accessible and more responsive to local needs."

It added: "On the basis of the evidence we have gathered and analysed, we suggest that neighbourhood management is, indeed, a valuable tool that deserves to be developed and adopted more widely."

Neighbourhood renewal minister, Phil Woolas, said: "This report shows that neighbourhood management is a key vehicle for regenerating deprived communities."