Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

13CommentFebruary 27-March 4, 2012United Kingdom Edition 13 ££ The Dental Directory has long said that it offers High Street dentists the very best overall pricing compared to all other dental dealers. Now, at last, this can be proved with independently produced evidence! The Dental Directory, along with all other major dental dealers, submit their sales out data every quarter to an independent research company, Strategic Data Marketing LLC. They then analyse all of the data on behalf of the large dental product manufacturers. There can be no doubting this independent data as the prices come from each dealers own sales ledgers. Strategic Data Marketing LLC. compared the final selling prices of 25 top-selling branded products from the categories shown below. These are the final prices charged to customers, after all discounts and promotions have been applied, and they found that The Dental Directory were an average of 5.2%* cheaper than our competitors. Couple this pricing research with free next-day delivery, massive stock holdings and a daily order fulfilment rate of 99.2%, and you can see why thousands of dentists choose to buy from The Dental Directory. If you want one reliable, single source of supply for all of your professional dental products, you can trust The Dental Directory to deliver on price and service. Call FREE today on: 0800 585 586 or visit: www.dental-directory.co.uk Product categories: Anaesthetics Injectable/Cartridges, Endodontics Files & Reamers Nickel/Titanium Files, Alloys & Accessories Amalgam Capsules, X-Ray Film Intraoral, Evacuation Cleaners, Endodontics Files & Reamers Files, Hand Instruments Surgical Instruments Suture Material, Infection Control Sterilants/Disinfectants Surface Towelettes, Impression Trays Disposable Single, Infection Control Sterilising Supplies Pouches, Endodontics Filling Materials & Accessories Heated Gutta Percha Refills, Infection Control Barriers Glasses/Goggles, Small Equipment Prophy Units Inserts, Anaesthetics Needles, Pins Latch & Hand Driven, Hand Instruments Hygiene Instruments Curettes/Scalers Posts Prefabricated Refill, Oral Hygiene Fluoride Rinse, Endodontics Filling Materials & Accessories Gutta Percha Points Impression Materials Alginate.. *SDM DPMSS Q1, Q2, Q3 2011 average. At last!… independent proof that The Dental Directory gives High Street Dental Practices the very best prices! for Price & Service An average 5.2% cheaper on the top 25 best-selling branded products! * 2392 DD SDM Advert A3_Layout 1 10/02/2012 10:29 Page 1 P ain is defined by The World Health Organisation as “an unpleasant sensory or emo- tional experience associated with actual or potential tissue dam- age, or described in terms of such damage”. While recognising its exist- ence, what the WHO doesn’t men- tion is that pain is, of course, en- tirely subjective which is one of the reasons why it is such a chal- lenge and a major global public health issue. We probably know far more about pain and its treat- ment than ever before, yet there is a disconnection between hav- ing that knowledge and using it to treat and manage pain. I believe passionately that dental professionals in general, and endodontists in particular, should commit to the right of eve- ry patient to be free of pain and through our work as compassion- ate professionals, to understand acute pain management if we are to provide real health and emo- tional benefits for our patients. We are approaching the end of the ‘global year against acute pain’, during which time the Inter- national Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) published a paper that points to inadequate educa- tion of healthcare practitioners as one of the main reasons for un- derestimating the seriousness of, and failing to recognise treatment options for, acute pain. By increasing our own aware- ness and understanding of the is- sues surrounding the assessment and treatment of acute pain, we can in turn, help educate our col- leagues in the use of anaesthetics and analgesics so they are better placed to offer information and help to their patients, many of whom are reluctant to use pain- killers for fear of unpleasant side effects or even, addiction. Acute pain is the awareness of noxious signals from damaged tissue and is complicated not only by sensitisation in the periphery but also by changes in the cen- tral nervous system. Someone’s emotional state can often have a significant influence on pain and increase the level of distress and impact on quality of life. Pain is hugely debilitating and makes life extremely miserable for millions of people every day and there are many underlying cultural, economic and social reasons that should also be taken in to consid- eration. I firmly believe that the den- tal profession must work with the government, policy makers and campaigners to ensure that every patient has access to pain free dentistry. In some cases this will mean NHS patients will receive treatment from private dental specialists, an issue raised by the Steele report, which suggested that poorer patients are forced to settle for extractions and dentures rather than tooth preservation, with root canal treatments a pre- serve of the rich. While there is no legally en- shrined right to be pain free, there arethosewhobelievethattheinter- nationally established and recog- nised rights to health include that by implication and inference. We can at least encourage greater awareness, better education and knowledge sharing as well as rais- ing patient expectations to be pain free. DT The right to be pain free Michael Sultan discusses pain About the author Dr Michael Sul- tan BDS MSc DFO FICD is a special- ist in Endodontics and the Clinical Director of En- doCare. Michael qualified at Bristol University in 1986. He worked as a general dental prac- titioner for 5 years before commenc- ing specialist studies at Guy’s hospital, London.