Restricted access to dental care due to COVID-19 resulted in greatly increased dental antibiotic prescribing, against an otherwise downward trend. In April to July 2020 was 25% higher than April to July 2019, with a peak in June 2020. The increase was highest in London (60%) and lowest in the South West (10%).
No commentsRead more: Antibiotic prescribing for dental conditions rose during Covid lockdown
Health Minister, Jo Churchill MP, was challenged in the House of Commons by Rosie Cooper Labour MP for West Lancashire to say what help the Government could give dental surgeries to improve their capacity. The Minister replied that the Department was ‘actively working on at pace’ and she would be meeting the BDA Chair, Eddie Crouch, to discuss what could be done.
Read more: Minister promises to meet Eddie Crouch to discuss effect of fallow time on practices
Dentists have provided around 19m fewer treatments in England since March this year compared to the same period last year, BDA figures show. PEC Chair Eddie Crouch said: “The clock is ticking on an oral health time bomb, as dentists lose the chance to act on the early signs of decay and oral cancer. Ministers have a choice. Make an investment that would pay for itself and bring millions back through our doors, or leave patients waiting for the care they need.”
Read more: Covid restrictions on dentists threaten patients’ oral health
The British Association of Private Dentistry (BAPD) says in its latest newsletter that the announcement of the second national lockdown in England was littered with ambiguity and they were the first dental organisation to reassure both public and profession following the announcement of the second lockdown, that private practices in England should and could remain open.
Read more: BAPD tells how it responded to second lockdown in England
The four Chief Dental Officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have written a letter to dentists to thank them for their professionalism and flexibility during the COVID-19 crisis and anticipating some of the challenges the profession is likely to face during the second wave. There have also been updates on Dentists as Essential Workers, priority for any Covid-19 vaccine and the Overseas Registration Exam.
Answering questions in the House of Lords, junior health minister, Lord Bethell said the challenge presented to the dental profession by Covid is severe. The Government is ‘grateful’ for the hard work of 10,000 NHS and private practices in introducing PPE and infection-control arrangements to keep patients and staff safe, and to the 600 urgent care centres that are providing services for the most severe cases.
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Ed Byrne
"Changes in the NHS, commercial pressures and the challenges of regulation have definitely made it more difficult to sit back and enjoy your dentistry.However, I firmly believe that GDPUK provides a wonderful family where practitioners can communicate, obtain support and advice. Practitioners need no longer be isolated. Help and advice is just a posting away."
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This review of the adjunctive effects of lasers or antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) to non-surgical periodontal treatment included 17 RCTs. The studies were small and hetrogeneous including just 701 patients in total and of low quality providing very limited evidence.
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This review of of locally delivered antimicrobials as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) for the non-surgical treatment of patients with periodontitis included 50 RCTs. While the findings indicate statistically significant benefits for probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level (CAL) at 6-9 months and for CAL at 12-60 months their clinical importance can be questioned. In addition most of the studies(47) were considered to be at high risk of bias.
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This Cochrane review of the effects of systemic antimicrobials as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) for the non-surgical treatment of patients with periodontitis identified 45 RCTs. However the evidence is of very low certainty to inform tclinicians and patients if adjunctive antibiotics are beneficial.
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