The British Dental Association (BDA) has launched a new toolkit to support safeguarding of children and young people who miss appointments, often for reasons beyond their control. Charlotte Waite, Chair of the BDA’s England Community Dental Services Committee said: “This new pathway is an important step forward to keeping children and young people safe.”
No commentsRead more: ‘Was not brought’: a new toolkit for missed appointments
Botox treatments should be taxed as a vanity treatment and not permitted to be tax-free as a medical therapy a court ruled last week. In a precedent-setting first-tier tax tribunal judgment, a judge ruled in favour of HMRC in its case against a southwest London skincare clinic, Skin Rich, that had provided injections without paying VAT. But this probably won’t apply to dentists offering such treatments.
In an open letter to MPs, The King’s Fund, the Health Foundation and Nuffield Trust, summarise the four major areas where the impact of a no deal Brexit could be felt most sharply in health and care. Their conclusion is that a no deal Brexit could cause significant harm to these services and the people who rely on them.
The end of dental fillings was forecast once again after scientists in China discovered how to regrow tooth enamel. Previous attempts to recreate the outer layer of teeth have proved elusive. Commenting on the claims, Prof Damien Walmsley, said: “This is exciting but it’s still a very long way off.”
BDA PEC Chair, Mick Armstrong, was a signatory to a letter to the prime minister, from the heads of 17 royal colleges and health charities across the UK saying that clinicians were "unable to reassure patients" their health and care will not be affected by a no-deal Brexit. They went on to say they have "significant concerns about shortages of medical supplies".
Read more: BDA joins royal colleges in issuing no-deal Brexit warning
Statistics from NHS Digital showed that just 50.2% of adults had seen a dentist in the past two years – a drop from 52.5% less than a year ago. Only 44% of Londoners had a check-up in the previous 24 months. This compares with a figure of 55.7% for those living in the North West. There was also a significant rise in the amount patients’ charges which totalled £855 million in 2018-19, up from £813 million the previous year.
Read more: Fewer people seeing an NHS dentist, but it is costing them more