Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

PUBLISHED IN LONDON C hannel 4’s programme ‘The Truth About Your Dentists’, the newest addition to the Dispatches series, has claimed den- tists are misleading patients about their rights to NHS treatment. According to Channel 4, the programme exposes dentists who are waiting until patients are in the chair before telling themthey must pay hundreds of pounds for private treatment, which should be availa- ble on the NHS. ‘Dispatches’ also re- veals that children’s teeth are being neglected under the NHS and that cost-cutting dentists are outsourc- ing lab work to countries such as China where there are little or no checks on safety or quality. The programme, aired on 23rd May, plans to expose dentists who have been overcharging and mis- leading patients who have sought treatment from the NHS. Commenting on the documen- tary, Kevin Lewis, Director of Den- tal Protection, said: “The word on thestreetisthatthisexposéfeatures yet another investigative journalist doing the rounds of different dental practitioners and comparing what is recommended or more perti- nently in this instance, offered. “The traditional version of these media “Rentagob” outings would reveal that ten dentists can come up with 11 treatment plans for the same patient. Then the mix- ing of NHS and private treatment became possible and ten dentists could suddenly come up with 22 treatment plans. The former was evidence of one form of synapse- based dentistry (natural variations in clinical opinion), while the lat- ter is evidence of an entirely differ- ent version of the genre. History tells us that you get more varia- tion in clinical decision making if any kind of reward gets mixed up in the thinking process. This may take the form of real money, or virtual money (such as UDAs), or performance “targets” of the kind that robbed hospital manag- ers of any semblance of rational behaviour as they desperately tried to manipulate their results in relation to waiting list targets . “The timing of the Dispatches programme, due to be screened just a few weeks after the ex- traordinarily confused, one sided and emotive anti-dentist piece by John Naish in the Daily Mail (April 22nd) suggests that there may have been an extensive brief- ing of the media by Department sources, over and above the “Dear Colleague” letter from the CDO, linking the results of the Adult Dental Health Survey to the 2004 NICE guidelines on dental recall intervals. Perhaps this was timed to coincide with (and add weight to) the Government comment in mid-April advising patients to dis- regard any advice from dentists to attend for sixmonthly checkups. It does all have the fragrance of a bit of orchestration.” Dr Susie Sanderson, Chair of the BDA’s Executive Board, said: “Dentistsarehighly-trained,caring professionals whose first priority is their patients. Each practitioner is expected to do what they feel isbestfortheindividualtheyarecar- ing for and, accordingly, treatment plans will be developed in con- sultation with that patient. Ef- fectivecommunication between patient and practitioner is essen- tial and theBDA strongly encour- ages this process so that a mutual understanding of what treatment involvesand what it will cost is achieved. “In the rare instances where misunderstanding or problems do occur there are formal procedures for resolving them, via either pri- mary care trusts, the Dental Com- plaints Service or the General Dental Council.” DT New 2011 or a Belmont equipment package and we will pay the VAT for you Order dental cabinets direct from our factory Register for your discount today at scottdental.co.uk May 23-29, 2011 VOL. 5 NO. 12 Scientific breakthrough A recently published paper from the Department of Mu- cosal Immunology & Oral Medicine in the Dental Insti- tute has been featured in Na- ture Reviews Immunology as one of the best science papers published in the last year. The paper was selected to feature in both Cell Host & Microbe and Nature Reviews Immunology and represents a major scientific break- through, as the findings could be relevant for develop- ing new approaches for treat- ing mucosal fungal infec- tions such as thrush, which affects millions of individu- als worldwide each year. Homeless flash smiles Homeless Leon Bright, now 61, expected to see his daughter get married last June, however because ill health had robbed him of his teeth, he didn’t expect to be smiling. However, Bright did smile at his daughter’s wedding, flashing a full set of bright, pearly whites. A Uni- versity of Maryland Dental School post-graduate student who knew about the wedding made sure to fit Bright’s den- tures so father and daugh- ter could pose for pictures. Bright is among more than 2,500 homeless veterans who are now flashing big smiles these days, thanks to a con- tinuing partnership between the VA Maryland Health Care System and the Dental School. The partnership be- gan in 2007 as part of a pro- gram called the Homeless Veterans Dental initiative. It came about when the number of homeless veterans eligi- ble for the Initiative’s dental care proved overwhelming for the dental clinics’ staff. Charity Walk The Mouth Cancer Founda- tion has unveiled plans for its 6th annual FREE Mouth Cancer Foundation 10 KM Awareness Walk. The walk, which is growing year on year, is designed to increase awareness and through fun- draising allows the charity to provide support for mouth cancer patients and carers. The walk takes place on Sat- urday 17th September 2011, in Hyde Park, London and this year the charity is hoping over 1000 people will step out and make a difference. Peo- ple travel from all more than the world to support the walk, which has raised in excess of £154,000 over the last 5 years. To take part in the FREE Mouth Cancer Foundation 10 KM Awareness Walk visit www.mouthcancerwalk.org www.dental-tribune.co.uk Clinical Innovations 2011 Dental Tribune looks at this year’s conference Nice and easy Dr Hohl and Dr Presten discuss bone harvesting Smile Factor National Smile Month is launched at Westminster News in Brief Implant Tribune EventsCIC ReviewNews How safe is it? Prescription drugs come under question page 4 pages 8-9 pages 13-14 page 30 The TV ‘Truth’ about dental professionals? Screening of Dispatches documentary prompts rallying call from dental organisations