Dental charges will rise from April 1 by 5%. Band 1 will rise to £22.70, from £21.60. Band 2 from £59.10 to £62.10. Band 3 course of treatment from £256.50 to £269.30. The BDA’s Chair of General Dental Practice Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen said: “Despite pledges of record NHS investment, our patients are being singled out to pay more, just so ministers can pay less.”
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The Faculty of General Dental Practice has announced that it is extending membership to all BDS students. Dean of the Faculty, Ian Mills, said: “The FGDP(UK) is the professional home for general dental practice, and is well placed to offer relevant networking and mentoring to today’s dental students both now and through their future careers.”
Read more: FGDP(UK) extends free membership to all UK dental students
The BDA has criticised Minister for failing to act over child tooth decay, as new data from NHS Digital shows 4.9 million children didn’t attend a dentist last year. Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, GDPC chair, said: “Any government that claims to value prevention should not be letting nearly 5 million children miss out on free check-ups.” This follows last week’s call by MPs for Matt Hancock to act over dental access problems.
The Oral Health Foundation is issuing advice for people calling its Dental Helpline service following an online telephone scam that tricks victims into being charged premium rates. The scam features a series of bogus telephone numbers that forward people to the Dental Helpline. While connected, fraudsters are then able to hit callers with highly-inflated charges.
Commenting on a study in BDJ, which warned that sodium chlorite, the active ingredient found in three over-the-counter products could cause damage, BDA’s scientific adviser, Professor Damien Walmsley, said: “At best, people may be wasting their money buying over the counter and online products to whiten teeth.”
Read more: BDA warns about using ‘over the counter’ and online teeth whitening products
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has sought views about indemnity cover for dentists and other healthcare professionals who are not covered by any existing or proposed state-backed scheme, via an open consultation Appropriate clinical negligence cover which closed on 28 February. Three indemnity providers have responded.
Read more: Dental indemnity providers respond to Government consultation