Dental Tribune Untited Kingdom Edition

Have you ordered your free Patient Referral Lea ets? Call 0844 335 6354 or visit www.waterpik.co.uk W hile mouth cancer charity, the Mouth Cancer Foundation, welcomes the new govern- ment campaign on alcohol it also believes it does not go far enough. The charity has been campaigning for a reduction in the amount of alcohol con- sumed by individuals due to its risk of developing head and neck cancers for many years. Drinking alcohol is the sec- ond most important cause of mouth cancer and 80 per cent of mouth cancer patients say they frequently drink alcohol. Drinking just one glass of al- cohol a day doubles the risk of developing Mouth Cancer. The Government announc- es a campaign to show that drinking just over the recom- mended daily limit for alcohol increases the risk of serious health problems. Drinking two large glasses of wine or two strong pints of beer a day triples the risk of developing mouth cancer, ac- cording to the Government campaign. Two million leaflets will be made available to Change4Life supporters and health profes- sionals across England to get the message across. Under the Change4Life banner the ad- verts will also inform people about a new online calculator to work out how much they are drinking. Drinkers will be encour- aged to cut down through measures such as having alcohol-free days, not drink- ing at home before going out, swapping to low or alcohol- free drinks and using smaller glasses. The campaign follows a survey of more than 2,000 peo- ple which found 85 per cent do not realise drinking over recommended limits increases the risk of developing breast cancer. Some 65 per cent were una- ware it increases the risk of bowel cancer, 63 per cent did not know about a raised risk of pancreatitis and 59 per cent had no idea excess drinking increases the risk of mouth, throat and neck cancer. Dr Vinod Joshi, Founder of the Mouth Cancer Founda- tion, said: “The current alcohol guidelines from the Govern- ment are still very high. To re- duce the risk of mouth cancer risk, the Mouth Cancer Foun- dation recommends that peo- ple should limit or avoid drink- ing alcohol altogether. The evidence about alcohol and the link to cancer is growing and people should be more aware of the risks and reduce their alcohol consumption. “Every additional drink a day shows risks of getting can- cer will increase. People in the UK are drinking even more now than ever before and this could lead to more people de- veloping cancer because of al- cohol in the future. Bingeing is responsible for most cases, but some are triggered by drinking at levels below the suggested daily total.’’ The Department of Health’s current advice is that men should not regularly drink more than three - four units of alcohol per day, and wom- en should not regularly drink more than two - three units of alcohol per day. Drinking alcohol increas- es the risk of cancers of the mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, and liver in men and women. In general, these risks increase after about one daily drink for women and two daily drinks for men. For men, the Mouth Cancer Foundation rec- ommends no more than occa- sional drinking of two standard drinks a day and for women no more than one standard drink a day. DT Drink less a day to keep mouth cancer at bay M any practices have reported reduced profitability as a re- sult of the recession and an in- crease in missed appointments. In response to this, Denplan has developed a unique online application – the ‘Mind the Gap App’. How much your practice is losing in revenue due to missed appointments, holidays, illness etc can often be a mystery as most practices will be working a year or more ahead of their accounts. The Mind the Gap App not only calculates your practice’s daily income, but the revenue lost through these missed appointments - allowing the practice team to highlight patterns and find appropriate so- lutions. Head of Marketing at Den- plan, Richard Ward, said: “The new Mind the Gap App is Den- plan’s latest innovation, designed to show dental teams just how much revenue they can lose from missed appointments each year and ways to combat this shortfall. “For example, 90 per cent of pay- ment plan patients attend check- ups every six months, compared with 53 per cent of PFPI patients and PFPI patients are four times less likely to cancel an appoint- ment[1] in the future given the current economic climate. So, if some patients are attending less often due to financial reasons, then you could consider offering a dental plan as a value alterna- tive to help them budget. “Not only does Denplan offer patients a way to plan for their dental care, it also provides guar- anteed regular income to help guard against missed appoint- ments, holidays, sickness, and practice training days to increase profitability - so it’s win-win!” For more information about the Denplan Mind the Gap App, please go to www.mindthega- papp.co.uk or contact your Den- plan consultant. DT Denplan Launches ‘Mind the Gap’ App P eople could soon be di- rected to free or cheap apps by their GPs to al- low them to monitor and man- age their health more effec- tively. The latest innovations in smartphone technology will help patients and the public to find and use NHS services, manage conditions and make better lifestyle choices in a way that is very convenient for them. It follows a call to find the best new ideas and existing smartphone apps that help people and doctors better manage care which received nearly 500 entries and over 12,600 votes and comments. Popular apps include ‘Pa- tients Know Best’, where each patient gets all their records from all their clinicians and controls who gets access to them. The app means that patients can have online con- sultations with any member of their clinical team, receive automated explanations of their results, and work with clinicians for a personal- ised care plan. It has already proved successful with hospi- tals including Great Ormond Street, UCL and Torbay as well as with GPs and commu- nity nurses from across the country who are responding to patients’ invitations. The Diabetes App will also give people with diabe- tes reminders on checking blood sugar levels and tak- ing medication. It will allow them to monitor, record and track blood sugar informa- tion, which can then be sent electronically to their surgery or clinic. The app also uses emerging FoodWiz software to help people control their diabetes or even help those at risk of diabetes to prevent it. It will help patients to con- trol their diet so they can rely less on medication and attend- ing obesity clinics by allow- ing them to zap an increas- ing number of barcodes while shopping and get immediate information on the amount of calories, carbohydrates and fats. The competition identified apps with potentially huge value to patients and the NHS that promote better manage- ment of long-term conditions or healthy living. Last month, NHS Choices was visited by 14.5 million people look- ing for information on health and local services – helping many to get the advice they needed without making an appointment to see their GP. Developing smartphone apps is the next step in giving pa- tients the information and advice they need and want to stay healthy. At an event showcasing the best ideas for new and existing health smartphone apps, the Health Secretary An- drew Lansley said: “So many people use apps every day to keep up with their friends, with the news, find out when the next bus will turn up or which train to catch. I want to make using apps to track blood pressure, to find the near- est source of support when you need it and to get practi- cal help in staying healthy the norm.” We are looking at how the NHS can use these apps for the benefit of patients, includ- ing how GPs could offer them for free.” DT GPs to ‘prescribe’ apps for patients 7NewsMarch 5-11, 2012United Kingdom EditionUnited Kingdom Edition