The Health Department were challenged by Mike Amesbury Labour MP for Weaver Vale on the vexed subject of the BSA’s penalty charge scheme for dentistry. Replying Steve Brine MP said they recognised patients’ concerns and continuously reviewed contact from patients who feel they have incorrectly received a penalty.
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Staying with the same GP reduces the chance of premature death, a study by Exeter Medical School, published in BMJ Open has found. This echoes a finding of the Steele Review of NHS dentistry, which said: “Continuity of care matters to patients and to dentists. It is important in building a relationship of trust and a philosophy of lifelong care.”
The UK Chief Dental Officers have written to all dental registrants to advise them on new restrictions on the use of dental amalgam, effective from July 1. From then dental amalgam shall not be used for dental treatment of pregnant or breastfeeding women, children under 15 years, and deciduous teeth, except when deemed strictly necessary by the dental practitioner based on the specific medical needs of the patient.
Some recent court cases show variation in fines across the country, ranging from £2,000 in Birmingham to £9,000 in Derby, but overall the trend is for the amounts to be increasing. In most cases, all of which were prosecuted by the GDC, the defendants pleaded guilty, but claimed not to know they were doing wrong.
BDA Chair, Mick Armstrong, has challenged Jeremy Hunt to put prevention at the heart of government’s NHS ’birthday funding’ pledge, as they warn that a rush to reduce political pressure on hospital targets will fail to tackle the pressures facing the wider service.
Read more: BDA challenges Hunt to invest in prevention for NHS 70th
Local authorities from across the United Kingdom should add fluoride to water supplies, following new research which confirms it has no negative effects. So says the Oral Health Foundation following a study carried out by the National Toxicology Program in the US which states that there is “no link between elevated levels of fluoride and cognitive learning deficits.”