Heart Your Smile, the dental charity with a mission to find innovative ways to promote oral health and regular dental visiting, has devised a Market Index which charts the growth of dental activity and patient uptake across the spectrum of dental care in the UK. This is based on industry figures for sales of dental treatment gloves and dental local anesthetics, providing a proxy for the volume of dental visiting actually taking place.
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Baroness Garner of Parkes, a retired dentist, asked the Government what progress had been made in prevention for children and water fluoridation. Minister, Earl Howe, replied that Public Health England was developing updated guidance on prevention. He also said that the Government expects local authorities to develop plans to improve oral health and which could include water fluoridation.
A new marketing campaign promoting The BDTA’s re-brand to the British Dental Industry Association (BDIA) to the dental team has launched. Tony Reed, BDIA Executive Director, explained “BDIA encompasses the wider world of dentistry beyond the direct ‘trade’ including banks, insurance companies, publishing companies as well as suppliers of services and technologies to the dental industry amongst its membership”.
Many dental practices across France closed on February 3, as dentists went on strike over pay and conditions. The National Confederation of Dental Trade Unions representing a third of the country’s 37,000 dentists, said its members were protesting against a freeze in state rates for basic dental care, according to a story in the Connexion, ‘France’s English Language Newspaper.’
Over 90 dental pilots have been extended until March 2015 the Department of Health has announced. It has also published Jimmy Steele's update on their progress. This report says that the new preventative approach is showing good clinical results. The focus over the next year will be to refine this approach. The BDA has commented that these issues require 'continued professional engagement'.
The BDA comment went on to say "Also identified are repercussions for use of skill mix in dentistry, with the important role of DCPs, including Extended Duties Dental Nurses, in the delivery of the care pathway the pilots are trialling, noted. Such arrangements present particular challenges for smaller practices, the report warns."
Writing in the Telegraph to mark the first anniversary of the Francis report Secretary of State for health, Jeremy Hunt, said that a "culture of openness" is spreading through the NHS. Almost 1000 whistleblowers are reporting poor care every month. The service has started to move on with ‘compassionate care’ replacing ‘tick box targets’.