Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

PUBLISHED IN LONDON March 11-17 2013 VOL. 7 NO 5 ADAM launch jobs board In partnership with Dental Angels Recruitment UK, the Association of Dental Adminis- trators and Managers (ADAM) is delighted to announce the launch of a Jobs Board acces- sible via their website. This exciting new development not only enables anyone within dentistry to advertise vacancies on the association’s website but also to seek out new opportu- nities, delivering a ‘one stop shop’ for recruitment in the dental field. ADAM Vice Presi- dent, Hannah Peek said: “I’m thrilled to see this Jobs Board going live on our website. I think it will prove very popular with our members not only in terms of helping them promote their vacancies to a wider audi- ence but also in assisting those looking for a new challenge or to return to the profession to see what’s available within their field of expertise.” Dentist’s billboard scares children The director of a day care cen- tre in Atlanta has called for a billboard to be removed as it has scared several children. The billboard, which is an ad- vertisement for Georgia Pros- thodontics, is located right next to the day care centre. The ad shows a graphic before and after close up photo of a per- son in need of dental work. Ami Bombardieri, the director of the day care, said she’s had many children in tears over the photo on the billboard.My biggest concern is that it’s not age appropriate,” Bombardieri said. Bombardieri told CBS Atlanta News parents have re- quested that the ad be removed so their children don’t have to look at it. New Zealand move to plain tobacco packaging New Zealand will be following Australia’s footsteps and start introducing plain packaging for tobacco later this year. Mar- keting imagery will be stripped and replaced with graphic im- ages of the damages caused by smoking, and all colours and design of the packs will be standardised. Associate Minis- ter of Health Hon Tariana Turia said: “Current tobacco pack- aging not only helps promote smoking to young and vulner- able people, it also helps keep smokers smoking. This move to plain packaging will remove the last remaining vestige of glamour from these deadly products. “I am delighted that New Zealand is on track to be the second country in the world to legislate for plain packag- ing. This is another major step on the pathway to becoming a Smoke-free nation by 2025.” www.dental-tribune.co.uk Biting remarks The importance of occlusion Great practice The journey towards practice perfection continues Selling? Jeff Williamson gives a guide to selling an incorporated business News in Brief Practice ManagementMoney ClinicalNews Cash boost Dentistry gets £30 million page 2 pages 19-20 pages 24-25page 12 Future unclear for Clearstep as administration looms Chaos for Clearstep clinicians and patients as clear aligner firm goes to the wall T housands of patients and practitioners have been left mid case as Clear- step, the clear aligner company has officially gone into adminis- tration Following weeks of rumours and confusion, insolvency spe- cialists FRP Advisory has an- nounced that the company has indeed been put into adminis- tration. A spokesperson for FRP commented: “The company has gone into administration, and unfortunately all of the staff have been made redundant. It’s a sad day; it’s the end of the line. “All practitioners will be writ- ten to, and will be receiving let- ters shortly. For more informa- tion, contact FRP Advisory on 02030054000.” For practitioners, the an- nouncement has given closure to the first chapter of a situation that will have repercussions for some time to come. Dental practition- ers are left with the situation of patients now needing alternative treatment plans; many of which will have paid in advance. Practi- tioners are also left counting the cost of treatment plans that they paid for in advance for patients. During the weeks of uncer- tainty, patients and clinicians have been taking to social media to vent their frustrations at the lack of information coming from Clearstep. One clinician took to Facebook, many discussed their anger on dental online fo- rums and patients voiced their concerns on sites such as mon- eyexpert.com. The main issue was the inability to talk to someone and get clarity on the situation so they could move forward with finding alternative solutions for their patients. Support from the trade has been welcomed, with many orthodontic treatment system providers offering support and advice where needed. Dental Protection too has issued a brief- ing offering advice. One of its main messages for practitioners states The four key principles to follow in order to minimise the dento-legal consequences of these situations are : 1) Find out the facts rather than acting on the basis of ru- mour and hearsay informa- tion. In a fluid situation, you need to be doing this on a daily basis and trying to speak to reli- able, authoritative sources of in- formation. 2) Stay in close and regular com- munication with the patients in- volved. Make sure that they are talking to you rather than to third parties, so that you give yourself as much opportunity as possible to influence and control events. If patients feel the need to seek advice from a second clinician and are perhaps told (rightly or wrongly) that aligners were nev- er the correct treatment approach in the first place, their dissatisfac- tion will be all the greater. 3) Let the patients see you under- stand their concerns, that you are doing your very best to achieve the best possible outcome for them, and you will ensure they are not financially disadvantaged. 4) Do something positive – be proactive, don’t just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Assess the situation of each patient individually, pri- oritise their needs, and explore all the available options in the best interests of each individ- ual patient. Keep full records of all of this, including any phone calls that you make, and de- tailed notes of all discussions and the name(s) and contact de- tails of all the people that you speak to. Dental Tribune has made re- peated attempts to contact the management team at Clearstep, without success. DT