The Local Government Association (LGA) has recently completed an analysis of available data published by NHS England about dental access. The LGA found that an uneven distribution of NHS dental practices in England is leaving many communities struggling to access treatment, particularly rural and deprived areas.
No commentsRead more: Local Government Concerns with Gaps in NHS Dental Access
Anyone emerging from a Rip Van Winkle like sleep, or a couple of decades marooned on a desert island, and wondering about the state of UK dentistry, would rapidly get up to speed after reading a single article published recently in The Courier.
The former Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (FGDP) first published Standards in Dentistry in 2006. Based upon the earlier ground breaking Self Assessment Manual and Standards, it set out to offer a consensus on what were reasonable standards to be expected in clinical practice. In the spirit of good, better, best, it defined both a baseline to be expected of clinicians, as well as aspirational standards that represented best practice.
Patients prescribed GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) are increasingly presenting with an adverse effect informally termed “Ozempic teeth.” Although not widely recognised among the most common systemic side effects, the phenomenon is beginning to be reported in dental settings.
GDPUK readers may be familiar with the claims made about stem cell banking using children‘s primary teeth. Some parents are already spending thousands of pounds to do this for their children, often persuaded by the claims about their future medical value, made by the companies providing the service.
Read more: Deciduous Teeth Stem Cell Banking Under the Spotlight
Connoisseurs of the leopards eating people faces meme, may want to spare a thought for the CDO, the GDC clinical advisers, and NHS England.
In the latest Your NHS dentistry and oral health update, Jason Wong, CDO England, led with the government‘s ambitious 10 year plan. As things stand, however, all those extra appointments are likely to see a lot less clinical activity delivered than the Department of Health and Social Care would like.
Read more: CDO Seeks To Influence Dental Record Keeping Arms Race