Dentist Kris Leeson considers the problems with the 2006 contract and contemplates how a revised contract and/or private practice may improve the situation for dental healthcare professionals and patients alike.

Kris Leeson, BChD Leeds, MJDF RCS Eng, MSc (Implant dentistry), graduated in 2005 from the University of Leeds and is the principal dentist and owner of Thorpe Dental Group York, a mixed practice. Kris has a special interest in the treatment of anxious patients and has gained extensive experience in the use of intravenous sedation. He also has a special interest in dental implantology, and completed his Master’s degree in implant dentistry from the University of Warwick. In 2013 Kris achieved his Royal College of Surgeons qualification. In addition, in December 2012 Kris was crowned winner of The Dentistry Awards Best Young Dentist North East.

Why does the 2006 contract need to change?

It’s a good question with no easy answer but I, like many of my colleagues, have my own view of the situation.

Back in April 2006 when the contract came into being I was still in my VT year, finishing late that summer. It was quite scary for me because my career was starting by stepping into the unknown. In my VT year I was involved with a contract that was basically a piloted scheme. It was like the new contract but without UDAs; you could do whatever you wanted.

From the start I wasn’t happy with the contract and I was in the fortunate position to be able to buy a practice straight away and, in fact, bought the practice in which I had completed my VT. I personally moved away from NHS work, although the practice was, and remains, mixed. For me, the system was inequitable as PCTs varied in how much funding was available. Mine offered me a contract but the funding was unequal to the task. Financially it was impossible to achieve; however, I do recognise that I might have felt differently elsewhere, if a different PCT had been involved.

However, my biggest problem with the 2006 contract is the UDA system. First of all, for example, a band 2 course of treatment is worth 3 UDAs whether you perform a simple occlusal amalgam filling or molar endodontics, which just doesn’t make sense. In addition, from now until April, many NHS practices in this country will need to cram UDAs in to meet their targets. Is that good for the patients? If you do it the other way and see as many patients as possible at the beginning of the year, by the end of the year you can’t see patients because you won’t get paid for it. That side of the system is ridiculous; it’s an organisational nightmare. The NHS expects us to hit 96% of the target and it’s so difficult. You don’t know what’s going to come through the door every day and it’s impossible to get that balance right. We have a small contract and even that’s very difficult. 

What’s next?

Beyond the organisational aspect of UDAs, for me the biggest issue is that there is no payment for prevention or patient education. But it looks like the next contract might remedy that situation. In theory, we’ll have capitation, more time with patients and a simple traffic light system. We do need to work on prevention and spend time with our patients, which will reap rewards in the future.

If the proposed contract, as I understand it, works, it sounds like it could be fantastic. The issue is how it works. Take the computer system for example; it will be different, we’ll have to input a lot more information and first appointments will need to be longer. Where are all the patients going to go? Some of my NHS dentists are booked for the next three months, so imagine the waiting list if appointments need to be longer.  They’re going to be booked up for the next year just doing check-ups.

That leads me onto another of my concerns; that the revised contract, as a preventive scheme, does not financially lend itself to being associate-led.  As a practice owner, I don’t need to pay a dentist to educate patients on their oral health. I can employ a dental therapist who can do the job for less money. Where does the associate dentist fall in this scheme? I would prefer an associate in there, but am I going to be able to pay an associate to do that job if the focus is on oral health and prevention? As always, money is a big issue. How could it not be?

Making it work

Dentists are very good at getting used to a contract; we are adaptable because we have to run our own businesses in a very stressful situation. We get what we’re given and we try to work with it in the best interest of the patients and our livelihood.  The 2006 contract doesn’t balance those two elements and things get missed. What we want is something that will help with the prevention side of dentistry. Capitation with some sort of target and some monitoring is needed. Whatever we’re given we will work with it, as long as it doesn’t hit us financially.

It’s my livelihood, but the contract is changing to be better for patients; it’s not about making things better for dentists. If it isn’t affordable for me then I’ll have to convert to purely private dentistry straight away. I can’t do the same work – or more – for less money.

There is, however, definitely a place for mixed practice. I actually don’t think purely NHS practices exist. There are plenty of NHS dentists with NHS patients on their books, but they offer a private element if those patients want something beyond the contract.  For example, if a patient asks for cosmetic replacement of an amalgam filling you’re not going to do that on the NHS because it isn’t clinically indicated. A patient pays privately for that filling because they’ve requested it. So there you have a mixed course of treatment.

In summary, in my opinion the 2006 contract needs to change because the system is financially inequitable, there is no payment for prevention or education and UDAs are an organisational nightmare. Hopefully, the answer lies in the next NHS contract and if I get a fair deal then I’d be happy to carry on in mixed practice. But if the new contract does not address the fundamental issues, then I will have to seriously consider moving away from NHS dentistry.

Practice Plan is the UK’s number one provider of practice-branded dental plans. They have been supporting dentists with NHS conversions for over 20 years, helping them to evaluate their options and, for those who decide to make the change, guide them through a safe and successful transition to private practice. So, if you’re thinking about your future and would like some expert advice you can trust, then call 01691 684120 or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/nhs

The GDC Current state of play

Last week saw the GDC Accountability Hearing - the link is below. If the state of play of the GDC is anything like England's cricket, thety are back in the pavilion and on a losing wicket again.

As presentations go, it reeked of nervousness bordering on the incompetent. Professional beaurocrats being good at their jobs – which in this case seemed to be to avoid answering questions and to avoid taking responsibility.

I know it is the ultimate in boring TV that may well not come a close second to Jeremy Kyle – but do it, people. I  strongly suggest you watch it. In fact why not mail me privately and I will send you a vCPD Certificate for 2 hours.

Answer the question, if you please Dr Moyes

It started dramatically as Dr Moyes seemed ill prepared to answer the first question directly much to the annoyance of HSC Chair Dr Sarah Woolaston. Dr Woolaston is of course medically trained. Dr Moyes’s doctorate in Theoretical Chemistry may have been of more use if he had majored in The Chemistry of Body Language, whether from in front from the MPs or indeed from behind, where a motley commoners jury of his dental peers had gathered.

Given that on appointment he was nice kindly “Bill” I do wonder if he has started using his proper title to gain some presence in the company of those he seeks to lead?

The state of play with FtP

If there was one line of questioning that caught my eye, it was Rosie Cooper MP “What is the current state of play with respect to FtP?” she asked time and again.

She drilled deep on the state of FtP numbers. Persistent as she was Ms Gilvarry simply did not know the answer. It was stark, and if it had been a job interview, she lost the job at that point.

So I urge you to watch this report.

By watching this select Committee meeting you will learn:

• ·       Why parliament is to blame for failing to legislate
   
• ·       Why the Professional Standards Authority audit is flawed
   
• ·       Why confidence in the GDC profession wide is actually high
   
• ·       Why the GDC see Dentists as a minority stakeholder group
   
• ·       Why the BDA is a minority representative body of a minority stakeholder and can therefore be disregarded
   
• ·       Why e mails from the GDC are not arrogant
   
• ·       Why a case load of 1400 per year was reported as doubling
   
• ·       How this was used to justify the ARF increase
   
•        In turn how 1400 doubled means an annual case load of 1600
   
• ·       The nature of  body language in communication.
   
• ·       Reflect upon the quite informative posturing by both the Chief Executive and Chairman toward each other.
   
• ·       Learn About the GDC having a contract with the NHS’s National Clinical Assessment Service for triaging FtP with clinical input.
   
• ·       Why dental knowledge and experience at Executive level is not required
   
• ·       The Patient panel of 5000 patients, 2500 of whom are mystery shoppers coming to a reception desk near you soon
   
• ·       How to avoid answering a question
   
• ·       Which lessons have not been learned and will, in the opinion of the Select Committee, will never be learned.
   
• ·       How, as a Chairman, your role is to protect the Council at the expense of your Chief Executive
   
• ·       How Case Examiners won’t save [much] money but will improve the FtP process.

·        

Cringe TV

For those of you who do not worry about the GDC in a resigned sort of manner, move along now, there is nothing for you here.

For those of you who like use wonder at this broken regulator, this House of Commons TV presentation is critical watching.

So what is the GDC current state of play?

After an admitted tough year in 2014, my advice is not to place your bet on a proven level of improvement just yet

The future for the Chief Executive looks at best in the balance.

The future of the Chairman [for that is how he referred to himself] is perhaps better since he distanced himself from his colleague

The future of the GDC?

I think that will be a subject for a future Parliament – with 50 Shades of Grey Electioneering upon us, the time is lost and this matter is deferred until the next Accountability Hearing. 

Their folders are shut but I think their report may well be damning

Caught at First Slip

For me … it’s that contract with NHS’s National Clinical Assessment Service that catches my eye. Contract? 

Now there’s a regulator that has crept under the radar.  As old fighter pilots used to be trained, "Check your Six" because you need to CYA

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/7e1458c7-a8ef-48a6-b5b2-248f85597ecf

http://www.ncas.nhs.uk/

GDPUK is a community of practice. It is a group of people that share in the same activity; dentistry.

This means that in a community of practice, our members are encouraged to share their best advice, filter out the good from the bad, and steer discussions towards what lies upon the cutting edge of the sector or profession. So for instance what changes in the political, social, economical, or technological environment are impacting upon the sector? From observing GDPUK over the last few years, that seems to be the majority of threads that prove popular!

In the last couple of weeks we have seen a different side to the community. The GDPUK community have rallied behind the profession, shown amazing engagement and made something happen. I am course talking about the recent case of Keith Watson. Brief details below:-

Keith Watson lodged the defamation action against Andrew McIntosh, relating to claims that led to him being investigated by the dental industry's governing body.

Mr McIntosh made a series of allegations about Mr Watson's professional conduct at Discovery Dental Centre in Dundee and the case was taken to a full hearing by the General Dental Council (GDC).

Mr Watson was subsequently cleared of all misconduct and lodged a £50,000 defamation damages claim at Perth Sheriff Court, but court officials have now confirmed that he has instead been granted a Minute of Abandonment and ordered him to pay £10,050 in expenses to Mr McIntosh, from Invergowrie, Perth and Kinross.  

So Keith was suddenly in the bizarre position of having to pay £10,050 legal fees, after he had won the case at the GDC!

This is where the GDPUK community spirit came into action. Victoria Holden, one of the GDPUK Moderators setup a gofundme page and within 5 days over £10,000 has been donated. An amazing achievement by all and a fantastic demonstration of the power of a community.

From a GDPUK perspective we think that it is amazing that within a few days, over ten thousand pounds was raised and at the same time we saw generosity and charitable behaviour from the dental community which should make us very proud.

Moving forward, we believe GDPUK can be a force for the good of the profession in getting involved in situations that need support from the ground up and as the sites influence and popularity continues to grow, we will continue to facilitate great achievements like the one mentioned above.

An amazing example of the power of the GDPUK community, where else can this be seen in UK Dentistry, where thousands of dentists are actively engaging on a daily basis?

http://www.gofundme.com/keithwatson

In forming the ideas for this blog, I have thought about the changes that have occurred in the leadership and role models for the dental profession in the UK in the last decade or so. Some bodies have not changed their style, nor the stature of their dental leadership. In some government controlled ones, they have.

I will consider two leaders, Chair of the General Dental Council [GDC] and the Chief Dental Officer [CDO] of the Department of Health [DH].

As you will know, an era is over with the retirement of Dr Barry Cockcroft as Chief Dental Officer, NHS England. I am sure the whole profession wishes Dr Cockcroft well, we hope he has a long and healthy retirement.

The dental profession knows the role of CDO was downgraded when this incumbent was moved sideways from the Department of Health, giving advice directly to Ministers. Of course this role has always been a civil service post, but included advisory duties as well as the expectation of leadership qualities.

During this recent tenure, the role of CDO seems to have changed to a more "director of dentistry" style, implementing imposed changes from the DH, in order to carry out the political will of the DH.  Not necessarily changes which benefit patients, nor the public, nor the profession, sad to say, but changes which have benefited HM Treasury. No doubt this would be argued against by the outgoing CDO, the changes under his watch have been dictatorial, and controlling, often based not on evidence, but on political expedience. In fact that concept of lack of evidence base is a marker for his term, of course dentists must follow an evidence for all our decisions, but UDAs and HTM01-05 demonstrably lacked any proper evidence. Only one person would argue that they do.

The historical model was that a highly respected, highly qualified colleague fulfilled this role, and often with a public health aspect, and watched over dental developments emerging from the DH, supervising in a more nurturing, parental style. We do not know how internal battles were fought with the DH over dental policy historically, but the role of the CDO appeared to be protective of patients and the profession. Will these days return?

Now over to the GDC at Hallam Street and now Wimpole Street, and from 1956 to 2012 leadership was provided by a President, who served a fixed term, elected from the body of the elected GDC.

The Presidents of the GDC over the years have included some of the heavyweight names from the surgical and scientific fields of the profession. Those dentists may have been in positions of authority, but they were colleagues that other dentists could look up to, admire their achievements, and accept leadership in thoughts, philosophy and deed.

The same thoughts would also go for the holders of the post of Chief Dental Officer.

But, as we know, the present Chair of the GDC, imposed by the Government, and put into position by the  Privy Council, has been a lay person, Dr William Moyes. Not a leader of the profession, and indeed, someone who has shown little insight into the way the UK dental profession ticks. For example, in a speech, he suggested that UK dentistry should be comparable to the supermarket industry, with shoppers able to choose between the Waitrose style practice, or the Aldi/Netto/Lidl style.

Colleagues in dentistry shudder to think who will be appointed to be the next CDO. I personally hope the appointee will be able to show the profession the way forward, to be able to speak to the profession, and not be one who is planning further degrading downgrades to professional status, or perish the thought another appointee who sets in train solutions which offer lesser results for the people of the country, or which transfers the blame for reduced outcomes back onto the profession. We need a CDO who stands up for the profession and professional ideals.

We have figureheads of the indemnity societies, the faculties of the Royal Colleges, the universities [who seem to be inward looking], trade unions, private care providers, corporate bodies, online groupings, in place, all carrying out their roles, but none of them have yet emerged as a true leader, widely recognised.

My hypothesis is there is a vacuum in strong, thoughtful, highly moral leadership of the profession, this vacuum has been created by barmy ministerial edicts over a decade or more, when politicians have either not had advice or ignored it, and have chosen to appoint different types of people, the wrong people. What do you think?

Who will provide the leadership? From where will this person or people of stature emerge, when the profession so badly needs the core values of moral, philosophical and intellectual guidance?
 

http://www.gdc-uk.org/Newsandpublications/Publications/Publications/Thefirst50years_Gazetteinsert_summer06[1].pdf

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/health/news/article4081701.ece

http://www.breathebusiness.co.uk/blog/make-a-visit-to-the-dentist-more-like-a-supermarket-trip/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/


 

When I qualified back in the early 1990’s, social media wasn’t exactly on the radar. The thought of being able to connect with a multitude of people instantly was the stuff of imagination. The Pub was our Facebook, and the only ‘likes’ we had were the various guest beers.

Now it’s such a part of our everyday lives that normal channels of communication are seemingly used in the minority. When you can connect with the entire world’s population from the comfort of your home, and carry on multiple conversations about multiple subjects simultaneously, the days of popping out for a beer and a chat with a mate seem numbered.

But what about the social etiquette, and more importantly the professional etiquette we employ when online? The GDC have standards that we should adhere too, and indeed GDPUk is actually specifically mentioned in them such is the impact social media has made on the profession. Specific specialist sites like GDPUk aren’t generally the issue, and whilst there are sometimes a few comments made that might get the GDC or lawyers a trifle interested, these sort of sites are generally appropriately populated and commented upon.

The problem are the wider platforms especially those such as Twitter and Facebook. Some users don’t seem to get the fact they are in no way whatsoever a place to remain private and anonymous despite what you might think.

Whilst the ‘more mature’ professionals seem to have the general hang of the way we should conduct ourselves, I worry that some of the younger members of the profession haven’t quite got the gist of what being a professional is yet and how they should present themselves in public to the public. Because no matter what steps they take, if they have a social and professional presence on media like that, they are well and truly exposed to public scrutiny.

There are a multitude of Facebook pages for Dental matters. Some are better than others, but all suffer from the same fundamental problem. They are not private. In order to use them you have some sort of visibility. For instance, if I wanted to discuss a case over a beer in the pub with a mate, I wouldn’t be doing it whilst posing in a mirror with oiled muscles. But that’s what communicating with some of the personas on social media is like. Some of the fairer sex seems to be somewhat less than modest in their attire on occasion, and one has to wonder if this is what the public expect of its professional classes. A couple of clicks and you generally have a range of private information about ‘friends’, particularly the more self-obsessed ones.

What about commenting into the perceived anonymity of an electronic device in such a way that you wouldn’t do in person? I’ve witnessed many an argument that would never happen in real life due to the social ethics the majority of us have; but once in the safety of the digital world the ‘keyboard warriors’ tend to lose all sense of propriety and the moral compass seems to have lost its direction.  And then there are the artists of self-promotion who feel every other comment has to be some form of pseudo advert for a business venture, or course you can’t possibly miss. I’m becoming guilty of the last one as my Twitter account now is used almost solely for the promotion of this blog and GDPUk. You see, the boundaries of who you are as a person, and who you are as a professional are becoming so grey with social media like Facebook that it feels safe to make that sort of comment, and think there is no comeback.

Finally, there are the vast numbers of photos of patients and cases that we see bandied around social media. The GDC is very clear on this,  in standard 4.2.3, where it states ‘You must not post any information or comments about patients on social networking or blogging sites’. Period. We can use ‘Professional Social Media’ but social networking sites are a no-no according to the exact wording. Personally, I think the GDC are possibly a little behind the times on this, as there are a good number of very good Facebook pages where some quite good discussions take place; however it remains to be seen if the GDC feels this is ‘professional social media’ when used in this way, as after all, they are the ones who get to decide….

The big problem though is that many people forget just what can happen to these comments and photos once they've been posted.

I’ve heard stories of people using screenshots of comments made on social media and then threatening to use them as evidence to send to the GDC. Screenshots can be shared outside the domain we think we are posting in, and as such can be disseminated far more than we might have considered when we posted. Unfortunately the self-righteous are rife on social media, and often mistake what is only free speech for something to get offended by, and take draconian steps.

I’ve seen the fallout when comments in a public section of a site then get even nastier privately; and I’ve seen wholesale bar-brawls break out in some places (although they’re usually involving musicians ? ). This is like taking a voice recorder or video camera to every meeting you have with a professional in case they say something that offends you so you have evidence and can report them. Since the GDC love nothing better than a good old Fitness to Practice case, we need to really be aware of what we put on social media, how we do it, and the persona we use on there. I think it is only a matter of time before there will be a full-blown case against a registrant involving some indiscretion or inappropriate comment on social media.

Now I’m no Luddite, prude, or some ‘holier than thou’ observer; as a forthright Yorkshireman I tend to say how it is and if you don’t like that then that’s your problem not mine. I’ve got patients as Facebook friends, and I tend to be exactly the same person online as I am in real life. I’m aware that anything I say there is something that I should be happy to share in a professional environment. I’m a real person and don’t have any airs and graces or chip on my shoulder that mean I think I’m some sort of superior being because I’m a dentist. But I can’t help thinking that some of the comments, personas, and attitudes we see as the public face of some of those in dentistry give the GDC every right to be concerned about the public perception of the profession, because if people can’t differentiate between a digital persona and a real one when they are posting then they really do deserve the attention of our regulator. The rationality and politeness filters seem to disappear from some of our profession when they get infant of some kind of keyboard. Couple all this with a competing bunch of the self-righteous, and the self-obsessed and we have a recipe for the profession to start imploding.

It certainly feels like it is one rule for the GDC and one for us where social media is concerned; the sheer fact you can ‘like’ the fact a colleague has been struck off, suspended etc, is not what I call professional. There’s also no associated comment when a colleague has been exonerated, like in the case of the Scottish dentist Keith Watson, who then attempted to take a vexatious patient with an apparent history of suing dentists, to court for defamation, which unfortunately he has had to abandon at great financial cost to himself.

But, this case shows there can be huge good come out of social media and its immediacy. In the space of less than 24 hours a fund had been created to support Dr Watson, a newly qualified member of our profession who would no doubt be financially challenged by a huge legal bill this early in his career.

http://www.gofundme.com/keithwatson Not only that, the messages of support for Keith have been flying around social media all day and latterly on GDPUK itself.  When used appropriately then, we have a fantastic medium to help people.

We need to embrace social media as its here to stay; it can be hugely useful, and massively informative; but we must use it appropriately, and think about the consequences of our presence in the virtual world. That’s what it means to be a professional.

As the Chairman of the Lawyers section of the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers (NASDAL), Andrew Lockhart-Mirams, Senior Partner from Lockharts Solicitors, will be in attendance and exhibiting as a member of NASDAL at this year’s The Dentistry Show. The Show is held at the NEC in Birmingham on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 April, 2015.

Lockharts will be supporting NASDAL in attracting various Dental professionals, practice managers and owners at the event, to share their knowledge and skills about a range of issues relating to the accounts, legal, and tax and business affairs for dentists.

Formed in April 1988, NASDAL’s objective is to ensure that it provides a means of establishing a high quality of service to members of the dental profession at all times. The Chairman of NASDAL, Nick Ledingham, along with various other respected members of NASDAL will also be attending.

Andrew Lockhart-Mirams (pictured below), Lockharts Senior Partner, said “Lockharts Solicitors are delighted to be part of such a fantastic event for Dentists, and to also be supporting NASDAL as a member and exhibiting at this year’s event. It is a great opportunity to for each NASDAL member to bring their specialist knowledge and business to the table and showcase how their individual business are able to support Dentists and more importantly, also collectively under the NASDAL umbrella, to further benefit Dentists and to improve further in all areas of the overall business. NASDAL is the one-stop shop for Dentists for everything legal and accounting.”

So, come and visit us on stand G32 this April 2015.

For further information, check out our website: www.nasdal.org.uk.

We hope to see you there!

Disclaimer: The content of this article is only intended as information and should not be considered to be legal advice. Lockharts cannot be held liable for any loss caused by any act or omission as a result of the information in this article. 

Let me start with an apology ...

Those of you of a certain age may recognise my poor attempt at an ironic pun. That of course is nothing to do with my age – I am just a poor punner, so to speak.

One Week to go, Eight Weeks from certainty, 

We are 8 weeks from a General Election the outcome of which is regarded widely as the most uncertain for many generations. We are also less than a week from a most important event: Roll up, roll up, it’s the GDC under the microscope of political accountability … [well, hopefully!]

By the time you read this the House of Commons Health Committee will have parked dentistry [though the GDC Accountability Hearing] on the electoral back burner.  We’re done, the politicians will say, slamming shut their leather bound folders.

Long live the GDC

Of course we have all blown a lot of hot air about the GDC. I for one wrote majestically of the

“Delusional Management Executive and Council, demonstrably out of touch with the real events”.  I have to say I was rather proud of that!

What’s the point is making such a comment, though, if the examining Health Committee were to be so easily misled by a slippery GDC presentation?  We shall see. Our medical colleague, Dr Sarah Woolaston [a GMC Registrant] strikes me as a good pair of hands to chair the Committee and we live in hope that the GDC are “flamed”.  I for one called for the GDC to be placed in Special Measures.  Will there be tears for the GDC? I suspect not.

So for this Parliament, dentistry is all over. The Chief Dental Officer [NHS England] appointment is not even worthy of news yet.

Tiers of Tears?

And yet an ominous clinical change is afoot which will potentially be a most divisive one.  I refer to the introduction of Tiers to the delivery of dental care.  Orthodontics is now beginning to see it being proposed, while it has been flagged for some time in GDP and of course Oral Surgery have systems being rolled out.

In essence, perhaps we could liken it to our childhood friend Noddy:

Tier 1  -  Noddy can talk to Big Ears about driving but not drive a car

Tier 2  -  Noddy can drive, but not on the road at the same time as  Big Ears

Tier 3  -  Noddy can drive on the same road as Big Ears at the same time

Tier 4  -  Noddy and Big Ears can share the driving of Mr Plod’s police car

If there is one subject you should examine for your future practice, I urge you keep your eye on this ball.  As a young practitioner, it may simply guide your career development.

But as an older practitioner, the way these tiers are being mooted may expect to have an enormous impact on your ability to provide more advanced dentistry as part of your mixed practice.
 

You may wish to plan your practice development now, before the prototypes come in and before Tiers are presented to you on a plate, rather like a new diet of limited crumbs

Because I suspect many practices are only truly viable because of the ability to mix NHS and private care. Their clinical skill comes from the apprenticeship that is a life in General Dental Practice

While Tiers are arguably driven by good thinking about the big picture, and are here to stay, I worry that the unexpected outcome will be to drive unexpected massive change through older practitioners, who in many cases of course are the practice owners.  In all of this, the reality of Austerity 2 after the election – there has already been flagged real terms budget cut of up to 20% - makes the reality at GDP level quite different

Don’t let you and your practice be the one to experience Tears for Fears.  The Law of Unexpected Outcomes may well be alive and well

Valedictum

On a closing note, not unrelated, I am sure tears will be shed for the retirement of our colleague , the Chief Dental Officer, Dr Barry Cockcroft. The old position of CDO was of course downgraded, politically speaking, to NHS England, now outside the Elephantine corridors of power in London. This poacher turned gamekeeper [for he was indeed in high office at the BDA] can have improved access to a safe retirement in the knowledge that his project of UDAs has lasted the test of time, even if did not pass any other test!!  Let us hope that the next incumbent of the position does not also leave office with the same defunct system in place in years to come.

We reserve the right to have a barney with you Barry, but the least you deserve is a drink on us.  A glass of Chateau Fluoride perhaps – the one with the varnished cork?

 May your retirement be a long, happy and enjoyable one. 

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/2015-accountability-hearing-general-dental-council/

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/membership/

http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/commissioning-dental.pdf

As the focus in modern dentistry shifts further towards to prevention, effective teamwork is necessitated in order to deliver an excellent patient service. Collaboration between the team ensures that a coherent message is conveyed to patients no matter who they speak to, giving credibility to both the clinical advice given and the practice itself.

The same teamwork also enhances clinical outcomes, as practitioners are able to support one another to improve the results achieved.

Ian Dunn is a Specialist Periodontist with a wide variety of experience in practice as well as teaching. He is the Periodontal Teaching Lead at Liverpool Dental Hospital while also working in practice alongside a wide variety of other specialists in the fields of endodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics and dental implants. Ian knows the importance of a full team approach in the management of periodontics and will be speaking at The Dentistry Show 2015.

"I have attended The Dentistry Show as both a delegate and speaker on four occasions and have had the pleasure of listening to some of the biggest names in dentistry speak on a wide range of topics. The different lecture programmes mean that there is something for the whole dental team. I have always found the Show to be very well organised and it has one of the best trade fairs I have been to. 

"In my lecture entitled 'I'm a periodontist, How can I help you?' I will be looking at some of the ways a periodontist can work with other members of the dental team for the benefit of the patient. I will spend a large section of the lecture looking at periodontal diagnosis and common misdiagnosis – something that should be of great interest to hygienist and therapists in light of the new rules around direct access and the need for other members of the dental team to be involved in the diagnostic process. I will finish the lecture looking at some of the advanced treatment options such as surgical management of periodontal disease. 

"I would hope that delegates attending the lecture will better understand the role of the periodontist and how we can help them stabilise their patients’ periodontal health. I would also hope that delegates will leave with improved diagnostic skills and be able to better avoid the common misdiagnoses that I see on a regular basis. Finally they should also be able to discuss the range of options available to patients once they are referred into specialist care."

The Dentistry Show 2015 is a two-day event tailored to the needs of the entire dental team offering a wide range of products, verifiable CPD lectures, hands-on workshops and opportunities for networking. Register for your free delegate pass today and make the most of everything available to you at The Dentistry Show 2015.

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015, Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April, NEC in Birmingham. To register for your free delegate pass please visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk, call 020 7348 5269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A recent appointment with a particularly happy patient got me thinking about what is it that makes us, as dentists, happy? And when are we happiest?

Is it satisfied patients? Successful treatments? New technology and gadgets? Holidays? Certainly all of these elements contribute to a sense of momentary contentment and satisfaction, but what is it that creates a more long-term feeling of happiness? And what can we do to make our profession happier? 

There are many psychological studies that put choice, autonomy and control as major contributors to feelings of happiness. It would appear that we are happiest when we have control of our own destinies, when the decisions that affect us most are the ones that we have the power over. Thus, as dentists, we may be happy in our day-to-day practices and surgeries because this where we are in charge and make the decisions, but, as soon as this control is taken away we can feel uncomfortable, unsure and less content.

In a wider sense, this is something that many dentists are feeling at the moment and there is a growing sensation of unease and unhappiness across the industry. This can be attributed to an increasing sense of a loss of control over a profession that we are all care deeply for and are so passionate about.

The well-documented problems with the GDC certainly don't help the situation and for many the lack of perceived control in this area in particular is a source of anxiety and distress. Many felt that eventually something had to change and the GDC is now firmly in the dock, facing the wrath of a disgruntled profession as LDCs across the country have expressed their disdain and frustration. The latest wave of disapproval from professionals stems from the significant increase in retention fees for practitioners, but also has deeper roots in the way in which the GDC operates as a whole. But the question remains: how do we change all this and what would actually make us happier?

In its response to the LDCs, the GDC released a statement saying that it was anxious to ‘engage constructively with the dental profession’ and has planned discussions that it hopes professionals will participate in. Certainly entering into a two-way discourse is the first step to achieving some sort of mediated appeasement, but will this make us happier as a profession?

Ultimately, what dentists want is to feel like they have some degree of control over their industry and their future. It is therefore time to examine the roadblocks that are getting in the way and begin changing dentistry for the better. By wrestling back some control, perhaps we can all be a little bit happier?

For further information please call EndoCare on 020 7224 0999

Or visit www.endocare.co.uk

Dr Michael Sultan BDS MSc DFO FICD is a Specialist in Endodontics and the Clinical Director of EndoCare. Michael qualified at Bristol University in 1986. He worked as a general dental practitioner for 5 years before commencing specialist studies at Guy’s hospital, London. He completed his MSc in Endodontics in 1993 and worked as an in-house Endodontist in various practices before setting up in Harley St, London in 2000. He was admitted onto the specialist register in Endodontics in 1999 and has lectured extensively to postgraduate dental groups as well as lecturing on Endodontic courses at Eastman CPD, University of London. He has been involved with numerous dental groups and has been chairman of the Alpha Omega dental fraternity. In 2008 he became clinical director of EndoCare, a group of specialist practices.

‘Networking’ is not simply a personal sales pitch. It is based on trust, which means building on and maintaining relationships over a period of time. The benefits in having a broad and vibrant network are huge. Even if you are not a natural extrovert, it is relatively easy and enjoyable to network successfully and connect with people that will have a long-term, positive impact on your career.

Like any good relationship, networking should be mutually beneficial. See it as a tool to exchange information about best practice, new techniques and products as well as gaining introductions to practitioners with similar interests. When you meet regularly with your peers, you put yourself in a position to seek their advice about similar challenges they will have faced. Active networking can put you at the front of people’s minds when job opportunities arise. Sharing your own ideas will help you to build a reputation as an innovative thinker and being able to offer assistance or advice means people will hopefully reciprocate in the future.

Connecting with more experienced professionals will open the door to career guidance that money just cannot buy. You may even find a mentor or, at the other end of the scale, finding someone to mentor is a richly rewarding experience.

So, how does one begin? The simple answer is to get out there! Go to professional events, take courses and attend lectures - participate. Be a familiar face on the circuit and you will become known as someone who is enthusiastic and supportive of the industry.

The best way to use your networking time efficiently is to join an established group, such as a professional academy. Choose one with high-calibre members. For example, the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD) boasts hugely some hugely influential and well-liked dentists, such as Julian Caplan, Tif Qureshi and Zaki Kanaan who are all regular attendees at the Academy’s events as well as frequent award-winners in their fields. The BACD attracts world-renowned speakers to its Annual Conference every year, giving dentists the opportunity to meet with them in a professional, yet relaxed setting. BACD dentists have also participated in high-profile media projects, and members are encouraged to diversify, for example by writing articles or presenting at its events.

Networking will not only keep you in touch with the industry, but will help you to focus your career path – the earlier you start, the better. Professional academies facilitate networking, but it does involve a degree of commitment too – the more frequently you get out there, the more your confidence will grow. You will not become the best you can be by going it alone.

The BACD’s 12^th Annual Conference runs from 12^th - 14^th November 2015 at The Hilton London Metropole Hotel. Go to www.bacd.com, email Suzy Rowlands at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 0207 612 4166.

The very first evidence of dental impressions can be found as far back as the early 18^th century. Dentist Phillip Pfaff described a technique of taking impressions using sealing wax softened in hot water, before pouring plaster of Paris into the mould to form a rigid cast.[i]^,[ii] A letter by Isaac john Greenwood in 1861 also suggested that beeswax was used to create models for early dental prostheses.[iii]

While the general concept for taking impressions has remained the same, methods of acquiring data has of course changed. The first true precision impressions using hydrocolloids were taken in 1925, and the fundamental compounds have been used ever since. Various products have been brought to the global dental market over the years, each designed with the latest technologies of the time to improve the experience for both practitioner and patient, while enhancing the clinical result.

The test of time

In the last century alone, few products and technologies have stood the test of time. In fact, many of those that have been around even a decade after inception owe their survival to continual development and refinement in order to cater for the ever-evolving demands on dental professionals.

Modern suppliers and manufacturers have therefore invested much time, money and effort in the research and development stages of any and all products on offer. Clinical trials, studies and assessments are performed to test products before general release into the market, and user feedback is used to refine both existing and future solutions.

No company understands this better than 3M ESPE, who is delighted to be celebrating an impressive 50 years of the Impregum Polyether Impression Material family, from which several widely recognised and highly praised products have been borne. It was the first polyether impression material available.

Where it all began

Since its introduction in 1965, Impregum F was immediately popular with dentists around the world. Properties of the polyether material such as its incredible hydrophilicity, snap-set behaviour and monophase characteristics lent well to wet environments, and dentists were afforded good handling with the desired long working and setting times. Its rigidity when set allowed for superior accuracy and detail capture, as well as dimensional stability and outstanding reliability. Polyether products have since been the material of choice for most implant dentists, and even to this day, the Impregum Impression Materials remain the only true polyethers available on the market.

In the early 1990’s came the 3M ESPE Pentamix Automatic Mixing Unit – another first of its kind. The initial material to be made suitable for the Pentamix Mixing Unit was the high-selling Impregum F, which henceforth became known as Impregum Penta. Similarly, Permadyne Polyether Impression Material followed two years later, which was also suitable for automatic mixing. As many dentists preferred a heavier viscosity material in the impression tray and a lighter less viscous running material around preparations in the mouth, this is exactly what Permadyne provided.

Continual development

In order to improve the smell and taste of Impregum Impression Materials, while also offering a less rigid-set option, 3M ESPE developed Impregum Penta Soft in 2000. Combining all the characteristics of the highly popular polyether family, this product was designed to be easier to extract from the mouth while also being more forgiving with a softer set state. A year later the Impregum Penta DuoSoft was launched, meaning ‘two softs’, which provided a heavy viscosity yet softer material for the tray and a light viscosity material for the prep.

By this point, the clinical practise of dentistry had changed somewhat since Impregum was first developed. As such, a new demand for short working and setting times needed to be met. The entire 3M ESPE polyether family so far had an approximate overall working and setting time of 6 minutes. Customers had expressed a desire for faster setting times in order to enable smooth and streamlined workflows, and so came the Impregum Penta Soft Quick range in 2004, which dropped the working and setting time down to about 4 minutes. For the first time, dentists could employ fast setting modified polyethers for monophase and one-step / two-viscosity techniques based on the revolutionary ‘snap-set’ behaviour. Dental laboratories also reported a very high quality of casts with this material.[iv]

Industry recognition

Giving dentists even more confidence in their 3M ESPE products, Impregum Penta Impression Material and Pentamix Automatic Mixing Unit have gained several accolades over the years.

Impregum Awards:

• The Dental Advisor, Preferred Product winner, 2010 – highly rated and considered one of the best products in the market at that time.
• The Dental Advisor, 2013 Clinical Problem Solver – recognised for its ability to capture margin detail with subgingival preparation.
• The Dental Advisor, 2014 Clinical Problem Solver – praised for its rigid set state and ability to provide an accurate representation of an implant for more precise impressions first time, even when haemostasis is difficult to achieve.

Pentamix Awards:

• The Dental Advisor, Editors’ Choice.
• Reddot design award, 2009 – praised for its compact and versatile design and ease of use.
• The Dental Advisor, Assistant’s Choice, 2009 – awarded for its smaller size and easy use.

50 years later

Proving its worth half a century after its initial creation, Impregum Impression Material remains a highly suitable product for a wide range of indications including inlays, onlays, crowns, bridges and implants. Offering flexibility of working times and viscosities, Impregum enables you to work the way you want to and is often the preferred material for implantologists the world over.

For more information, call 0845 602 5094 or visit www.3Mespe.co.uk

It’s no secret that effective dental marketing is the key to business success. In the modern technological world, it is also easy to see how the internet provides an ideal platform from which to promote your services. But where is the best place to start? What exactly should you be doing in order to reach your target audience?

CEO of Dental Focus® Websites, Krishan Joshi, will attempt to answer such questions at The Dentistry Show 2015. He will be speaking from within the popular Dental Business Theatre to discuss the “Top 5 Critical Points to Improve Your Website and Attract Enquiries From Your Ideal Patient”.

“In marketing there seems to be a hundred and one things to do,” Krishan comments. “In any system, there is always a critical point where the least amount of effort actually provides the most significant result. So what are the ‘Top 5 Critical Points’ that the most successful practices know about and consistently apply to give themselves the best chance of success?

“The website is the center of any practice’s marketing strategy and it’s important to understand how to warm up the cold enquiries before they visit the website, and then how to get them to tipping point by moving visitors from research mode into action mode. An emotional website is a good one. It’s also crucial to remember that on a website, there is no competition. You own the entire retail space of the screen, so you literally have to give patients a reason not to choose you.

“This is what I will be talking about, which is truly exciting because it’s the start of 2015, and what better time of the year to take immediate action? I’ll also explore how Google can be used in a similar way to Trip Advisor for practices with five star ratings, and how you can encourage patients to link to your website and then attract five of their best friends to increase referrals and grow your business.”

Aside from the Dental Business Theatre, The Dentistry Show 2015 will offer an array of forward-thinking and truly inspirational lectures, hands-on workshops and live surgery demonstrations. Additional theatres will provide insight into the current ideas and techniques within each specialist discipline, and the innovative Launchpad UK will bring you the very latest products and materials in the UK industry, ensuring there is something for every member of the dental team.

As Krishan concludes, The Dentistry Show really is an event you don’t want to miss.

“The Dentistry Show is an anchored memory of consistent success for Dental Focus. I remember giving my very first lecture at the event about five years ago to an overflowing standing theatre of hundreds of delegates. I have always been a raving fan of The Dentistry Show and love its energy, quality speakers and the people. The value for delegates and the profession is off the charts.”

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015, Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April, NEC in Birmingham. To book your FREE pass please visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk, call 020 7348 5269 or

email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Josie Hutchings reflects on how considering value rather than cost may help to guide dentists wondering whether they and their patients are best served by NHS dentistry, private practice or a combination of both.

Josie is part of Practice Plan’s NHS Change Support Team. As a Regional Support Manager with over 21 years’ experience, she has guided practices to successfully evaluate their options out of the NHS. Contact her for further advice and support on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/nhs.

In everyday language cost and value are often interchangeable; however, when it comes to running a customer-oriented business, these two terms mean quite different things. Cost is simple: how much will a crown cost me? Value, on the other hand, is not a number, but rather is about the usefulness or desirability of a service (in this case dentistry). Think: what is a crown worth? Here, patients will be thinking subjectively about, for example, the value of saving a tooth, the levels of service, trust and expertise they have experienced and the confidence they have in the completed restoration.

With this in mind, let’s look at some of the more significant aspects of dental practice that can be considered in terms of value rather than cost, the former of which is more important to your future than you might imagine.

Service with a smile

What do you consider to be good level of service? You can’t put a figure on it, but there certainly is very good value in offering good customer care. We all want to be seen quickly, dealt with courteously, open the practice door into a clean, inviting and professional environment, and feel comfortable and confident that we are in safe hands.

Each of these, when performed or delivered well, is worth ‘its weight in gold’, to coin a phrase.

All of this takes place before patients have even stepped into the surgery, so just imagine the implications for the business, whether private or NHS, if service falls below par.       

Meeting expectations

Patients have expectations, as do dental professionals. Dentists and their teams want to provide the very best possible care. Within the NHS framework that is predominantly, but not exclusively, focused on delivering a high level of treatment as cost-effectively as possible and, for some patients, this makes them happy. Others, however, might be looking to expand their dental horizons, perhaps asking about treatments not necessarily available on the NHS, when it isn’t deemed clinically necessary. Take, for example, the request for a white filling where clinically an amalgam would suffice, or treatments entirely beyond the scope of government-funded dentistry such as cosmetically-focused orthodontics and implants. How, if at all, are you going to meet such expectations; will it be by offering added value?

Treatment choice

Most dentists offer some form of mixed practice. Few will turn away an NHS patient asking for a little extra that can only be addressed privately. Mixed treatment plans can be a blessing for both the dentist and patient, allowing the dentist to address essential clinical needs, at the same time as putting a smile on their patient’s face. 

Building on the level of trust achieved and service already delivered, offering treatment options is certainly added value. So it’s definitely worth considering expanding what you provide your patients with.

The question then becomes this: do you want to expand the private dentistry element in your practice, to be able to offer a wider range of treatment options, and better satisfy patient expectations?

A matter of time

Some dentists manage perfectly well to deliver what they want to within the time frame of their working day, while others struggle.

Take, for example, preventive dentistry. Educating patients about their role in oral healthcare is of great value all round, since a good home care regimen will go a long way to achieving and maintaining healthy mouths long-term.

However, being time-poor is common among dental professionals and effective preventive dentistry does tend to require longer appointments. If this is too great a task under NHS arrangements in your practice, then the private route offers a possible solution to this challenge.

Handle with care

Think about what you want for you and your patients. Is it shorter waiting lists? To spend more time on patient education? To offer a greater choice of treatments? To do the dentistry you were trained to do to a high standard? To have access to more high-tech equipment to help with diagnosis? Or perhaps you’re happy with the status quo.

In the right hands, NHS dentistry is certainly not inferior to private treatment, but the latter does offer greater possibilities in terms of, for example, treatment options and materials that can be used, with more opportunity to satisfy the expectations of patients. It also offers the chance to provide service value of the type patients receive and expect from other professionals such as lawyers, accountants, architects, vets, etc.

Considering the added-value you would like to offer your patients, alongside financial considerations, may well help you to gain considerable insight into whether NHS, private or mixed practice is the right route for you to achieve your professional goals, as well as personal fulfilment and satisfaction. 

About Practice Plan

Practice Plan is the UK's leading provider of custom-branded dental membership plans. Whether you're planning a conversion from the NHS, looking to introduce a plan into an established practice or considering changing from another plan provider, we can help you take your practice where you want it to go.

Visit them at the Dentistry Show 2015 Stand -G85 + J50 or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk

Equipment leasing and finance specialists Snowbird Finance Ltd will be offering their £50 note incentive to new and existing customers at Dentistry show on 17^th & 18^th April 2015. Pick up a £50 note flyer and pocket a crisp, real £50 note when you redeem it on your next equipment finance agreement with Snowbird. You can also nominate your equipment supplier and have £50 sent to them too!

About Snowbird Finance

Snowbird Finance Ltd provide bespoke financial solutions to individuals and businesses in the Optical, Dental, Medical and Veterinary professions. We provide practice finance, equipment leasing, hire purchase agreements business and personal loans and vehicle finance for healthcare professionals to grow their practices or achieve personal goals. Whether you are upgrading practice equipment, refurbishing your premises, or simply need a loan for a holiday or tax bill, we find the best and most tax-efficient solution for your individual requirements.

Snowbird Finance Ltd was established in 2007 by Managing Director Simon Freeman, who has enjoyed a career spanning over 25 years in equipment leasing and finance relating to the healthcare professions. Simon’s fantastic knowledge and expertise has enabled him to grow the business rapidly, becoming a member of NACFB and positioning Snowbird as one of the key finance providers within the healthcare sector.

Snowbird recently announced that Bill Carr has joined the team to further develop our practice finance offering. Bill has over 24 years’ experience helping clients with financing for practice purchases and repurchasing agreements and is highly regarded in the dental sector.

Talk to Simon Freeman and the friendly team at Snowbird Finance at the Dentistry Show on stand C22.

Staying Ahead of the Game Success

Last month, dental professionals were invited to an evening seminar held at the impressive and prestigious Drummonds Bank in central London.

Attendees at the Natwest sponsored ‘Dentistry in 2015: Staying ahead of the game’ enjoyed insightful lectures by the likes of Bernard Danquah – Head Business Development Manager at Patient Plan Direct, highly regarded dental coach and trainer, Tracy Stuart, leading business advisers to dentists, Rob Walsh & Dee Gerrish as well as established legal expert John Grant of Goodman Grant Solicitors

The seminar provided dental professionals with the opportunity to absorb expert advice on some of 2015’s hottest topics in the world of dentistry, including reputation building and management, the positive impact of dental plans, the effective use of social media and email marketing, how your accountant can make a difference to your practice and the key issues on dental sales, purchases & incorporations in 2015.

The event proved to be a great success, with attendees relishing the opportunity to discuss the trending themes within the dental industry.  

Simon Reynolds, Commercial Director of Patient Plan Direct commented; “We have received exceptional feedback from delegates and we are pleased that so many dentists and other dental professionals were able to attend. The event provided the opportunity for us to portray our expertise and trend observations associated with the dental plan market, sharing valuable information and advice with the dental community. A big thank you goes to Natwest for kindly sponsoring and hosting the event.”  

Bernard Danquah, Head Business Development Manager at Patient Plan Direct, added; “These days there are so many areas a dental practice needs to consider and manage in order to maintain competitive edge and nurture sustainability and growth. Our ‘Staying ahead of the game’ seminar provided the opportunity for dental professionals to keep up to pace with some of the most important commercial aspects of running a successful dental practice. We look forward to arranging similar events in the future as we continue to help more and more practices get more from the dental plans they offer patients.”

About Patient Plan Direct

Patient Plan Direct provides an easy to use, highly efficient and very cost effective method of enabling practices to offer patients a dental plan. Patient Plan Direct’s unique approach embraces 21st century technology, gives a practice control and is proven to improve plan income and profitability. 

Geneva, 18 February 2015 - In the weeks leading up to World Oral Health Day on 20 March, the FDI is calling for a focus on prevention to help achieve a healthy ‘Smile for life’.

Governments, national dental associations, schools, communities, and families all have an important role to play in effective prevention strategies, in particular by raising awareness of good oral hygiene and habits contributing to good oral health.

Globally, oral disease affects most adults and as many as 90% of schoolchildren. Oral diseases are a significant burden on overall health, with the greatest burden falling on disadvantaged and poor populations. The principal problems are: dental caries, periodontal diseases and oral cancer.

Relatively simple, inexpensive measures can largely prevent these conditions and thus reduce the high burden of oral disease, including brushing with a fluoride toothpaste twice a day; however, research has revealed that the poorest populations of developing countries have the least access to affordable toothpaste.

Water fluoridation, therefore, may be particularly appropriate for such populations demonstrating moderate to high risk of dental decay. It confers positive health savings and contributes to reducing disparities in the rates of dental decay in communities.

Also of preventive value is reducing the intake of sugary foods and drinks, and limiting their consumption to meal times, as well as cutting tobacco use and reducing how much alcohol is drunk.

Oral health can also be improved by rinsing with a fluoride-based mouthwash and chewing sugar-free gum after meals when on-the-go.

FDI President Dr Tin Chun Wong said: ‘The FDI recommends a comprehensive preventive approach as the most appropriate method of reducing the heavy burden of dental decay worldwide.

‘This is particularly important given the unequal access to care worldwide. For example, in Ethiopia the population per oral health professional is 1.3 million, while in Croatia this figure is just 560. These statistics show just how much work needs to be done to address this issue, which compromises quality of life, as quickly as we can.

‘Ideally, a good oral health regime includes regular check-ups with a dental practitioner so, where there is access, the FDI urges individuals to talk to their dentist about best means of prevention.’

WOHD is celebrated throughout the world on 20 March each year with a wide range of awareness-raising activities organised by dentists, dental students and National Dental Associations (NDAs).

About FDI

FDI World Dental Federation serves as the principal representative body for more than 1 million dentists worldwide, developing health policy and continuing education programmes, speaking as a unified voice for dentistry in international advocacy, and supporting member associations in global oral health promotion activities. FDI is in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and is a member of the World Health Professionals Alliance (WHPA).

For more information, visit: www.fdiworldental.org

About World Oral Health Day

World Oral Health Day is celebrated every year on 20th March. The theme of World Oral Health Day 2015 is ‘Smile for life’. It reflects the major contribution oral health makes to our lives. Around the world, FDI member dental associations, schools, companies and other groups will celebrate the day with events organized under this single, unifying and simple message.

For more information, visit: www.worldoralhealthday.org

References

FDI Policy Statements

Need and Demand for Oral Health Care (2005).

Preventing Oral Diseases’ (2008).

Promoting Dental Health Through Water Fluoridation (2008).

Promoting Dental Health through Fluoride Toothpaste (2008).

Sugar Substitutes and their Role in Caries Prevention (2008).

Improving access to oral care (2009).

Oral Health and the Social Determinants of Health (2013).

Index of FDI Policy Statements at www.fdiwordental.org/policystatements

As well as

Global Affordability of Fluoride Toothpaste (2006). - www.fdiworldental.org/global-affordability-of-fluoride-toothpaste

World Oral Health Day 2015 partners

LISTERINE® brand Mouthwash, part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies

As the world’s number one daily mouth rinse, LISTERINE® Mouthwash has been used by more than one billion people in more than 85 countries. Professional dental organizations around the world have awarded LISTERINE® Mouthwash with their seals of acceptance.

LISTERINE® is distributed by Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., a part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies, which is the world’s sixth-largest consumer health company and is a segment of Johnson & Johnson, the world’s most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products.

Unilever 

Unilever Oral Care is a leading global manufacturer of oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash, represented by brands including Signal, Pepsodent, Close Up, Mentadent, Aim, P/S and Zhong Hua. Unilever recognizes that good oral health and the sense of well-being and confidence it brings, is a vital element to making people look good, feel good and get more out of life and that small every day actions, such as twice daily brushing with a fluoride toothpaste, add up to make a big difference for the world. Through its science, products, partnerships and international network, Unilever Oral Care is privileged with the power to make a sustainable and measurable improvement to oral health around the world.

Henry Schein

Henry Schein, Inc. is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners.  A Fortune 500®[1] Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100®[2] Index (NASDAQ Ticker: HSIC), Henry Schein employs more than 17,500 Team Schein Members and serves more than 800,000 customers. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 28 countries. Through Henry Schein Cares, the Company’s global corporate social responsibility program, Henry Schein helps expand access to health care for underserved and at-risk communities around the world. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program (WOHP)

WOHP partners with dental professionals worldwide, helping them improve their patients’ oral health through one extra simple and enjoyable step in their daily routine: chewing sugarfree gum after eating and drinking on-the-go. WOHP supports independent clinical research into the benefits of chewing gum, including saliva stimulation, plaque acid neutralization and tooth strengthening. For more information, visit: www.wrigleyoralcare.com

Website Traffic, How Facebook Can Increase Yours Completely Free Of Charge

Neil Sanderson

We all know that saying thank you is a great courtesy and makes the person who is receiving, feel much better don’t we. Well here’s a tip to make those two little words “Thank You” increase your website traffic too.

As I’ve said on many occasions before, there are two things you need to concentrate on with your website, (1) you need to maximise your website traffic. (2) you need to converts as much of that website traffic as possible into paying patients.

So here’s a little tip that will cost you absolutely nothing, it may endear you to your patients and you’ll get more traffic to your website and if your website has the right things on there when they land you’ll start to get more new patients too.

70% of the population now owns a smart phone, which is quite staggering, and just about every person who has a smart phone knows how to use an app. Additionally 50% of the population use Facebook for at least half hour per day every day.

So when you have done a great job for one of your patients and they say “thank you”, why don’t you ask them to put a link onto their Facebook page and just say thank you, it’s as simple as that.

They can even do this whilst you are with them on their Facebook app!

Let me elaborate on how powerful this little “thank you” can be to increase your website traffic. Let’s say you see fifty patients per day and one in five of them post this link to your website on their Facebook page.

The average person has 500 friends and likes on their Facebook account, this means that the link to your website could potentially be seen by 5,000 people every day.

Now I know that not everyone is going to do this for you, however much you try and persuade them. So we’ll scale this down (a lot). Let’s say that only 50 people per day get to see a link posted by one of your patients. This means that upwards of 1,000 people will see the link every month (12,000 per year).

Even if only 10% of them actually click through to your website, this means that 1,200 new patients will visit your site, simply because you asked your patients to say “thank you” on their Facebook page with a link to your site.

The best thing about this is that all this new website traffic is completely free, you’re not spending a penny on advertising anywhere.

But you also need to remember that you have the right wording, graphics, video etc. on your site to convert them from website traffic to paying patients and that is a whole different subject and incidentally even more important.

If you would like to know how I can help you grow your dental practice, call me on 01767 626 398 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk, or you can visit our FACEBOOK page too.

American Express to host the show’s VIP Lounge

27^th February 2015 American Express today announced it will be partnering with The Dentistry Show, which will be held at the NEC in Birmingham on Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April, 2015.  With a dynamic educational programme as well as a first-chance look at the latest innovations in the UK industry, The Dentistry Show is the UK’s largest source of live Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the fastest growing dental trade exhibition: an event not to be missed.

Under the new partnership, American Express will be supporting the VIP experience granted to attending owners, practice managers and dentists.  In addition to the American Express hosted VIP lounge, the VIP experience includes fast tracked entry, complimentary lunch and front row seats in the Aesthetic Dentist Theatre.  VIP status is granted automatically to attendees who have qualified in the past; new attendees should visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk/VIP to find out more.

Providing numerous learning and networking opportunities for all members of the dental team, The Dentistry Show 2015 will host a two-day programme packed with inspirational lectures, practical advice and hands-on experiences, as well as attendance from over 400 UK and international exhibitors. World-class speakers will present on a wide variety of clinical and business topics, with over 100 CPD sessions available and theatres dedicated to each area of the profession.

Stacey Sterbenz, Director, Small Business Services UK, said: “American Express is delighted to be a part of such a significant event in the dental calendar.  We have many established and long-standing relationships within the dental industry and with the small businesses in this sector.  We are very much looking forward to welcoming show attendees to the American Express VIP Lounge at The Dentistry Show.”

To find out more about the American Express Gold Business Card, visit americanexpress.co.uk/dental or speak to one of the American Express ambassadors in the VIP Lounge at the show.

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015 - Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April, NEC in Birmingham. For further details visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk call 020 7348 5269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About American Express

American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.

Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, foursquare.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/companies/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.

Key links to products and services: charge and credit cards, business credit cards, travel services, gift cards, prepaid cards, merchant services, business travel, and corporate card

Delegates at The Dentistry Show this year will have the opportunity to meet the team from Zesty, one of the leading online appointment booking sites in the UK.

With their innovative platform for patient bookings, the expert team will be on hand to help attendees explore the difference that working with Zesty can make to a practice.

Attracting new patients is a top priority for most dental practices but it can be a struggle to know where to begin. An online booking system that allows patients to schedule their appointments even out of hours can be really helpful. Zesty gives you the tools to be able to do this by enabling you to upload your available appointments and allow patients to book in their own time. Effectively, joining Zesty will mean you can be available to take bookings 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If your practice is need of new patients and you are looking for a way to attract more clients, make sure you visit the Zesty stand at The Dentistry Show.

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.zesty.co.uk or call 0203 771 7799 for more information. 

The Dentistry Show will provide a perfect opportunity to update visitors on what’s new at Belmont. Chances are many practitioners haven’t purchased a new chair for a while and will be amazed at how technology has evolved. 

In the last decade much emphasis has been placed on designing equipment to meet stringent cross infection standards.  Belmont’s streamlined equipment, with easily cleanable upholstery that’s resistant to both bacteria and staining, will benefit both patient and practitioner.  The former will receive treatment in comfort, whilst the latter will benefit from improved ease of access as well as keeping the CQC inspectors happy!

For those who wish their surgery were a little bigger, why not take a look at the Cleo (below), which has a folding leg rest?  Not only does this have a much smaller footprint, making your surgery look bigger and easier to work in, it also has many benefits for the patient.  Access is easy; it’s just like getting into a ‘normal chair’, which will be a relief to all especially elderly, disabled or younger patients.  Once seated, the natural position they’re in makes dialogue much more relaxing too.

In today’s cost-conscious times dentists are understandable demanding value for money from their treatment centre.  Belmont’s representatives will take you through the various options available and find the right one for you.  If your practice is used by more than one associate, for example, then it might be prudent to consider an ambidextrous option such as the Voyager which can change from right to left handed use in a matter of minutes.

As is always the case, there will also be some tempting offers for those who like what they see and what to benefit from the cost savings available throughout the duration of the show.

If you aren’t able to get to Birmingham then you might like to take a look at Belmont’s new website which is a hive of information and includes a practice gallery, showing some recent case studies.  Seeing how others have used Belmont equipment to realize their dreams can often provide inspiration for your own plans.  

www.belmontdental.co.uk

@BelmontDentalUK

Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the LISTERINE® Advanced Defence range, are delighted to sponsor Professor Nicola West speaking at this year’s Dentistry Show.

LISTERINE® Advanced Defence Gum Treatment is a twice-daily mouthwash clinically proven to treat gum disease as an adjunct to mechanical cleaning and to offer an alternative to chlorhexidine based remedies.

It is formulated with unique LAE (Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate) technology that forms a physical coating on the pellicle to prevent bacteria attaching, and so interrupts biofilm formation. When used after brushing, it treats gum disease as shown by the reduction of bleeding by 50.9% (p<0.001) in only 4 weeks.¹

Designed to help you treat and/or prevent specific oral care conditions, this range also includes LISTERINE® Advanced Defence Sensitive and LISTERINE® Advanced Defence Cavity Guard.

With this range of expert daily mouthwashes, Johnson & Johnson is looking forward to working more closely with dental professionals to help deliver advanced treatment outcomes for patients, for expert care when you’re not there.

For information on the LISTERINE® Advanced Defence range, please visit stand D72 to speak to a member of the LISTERINE® Professional team.

References

1. Bleeding Index Reduction DOF 1 – 2013 (LAEBBA0001), 50.9% Reduction in whole-mouth mean Bleeding Index at 4 weeks

UK/LI/15-4207

The team at Prestige Dental is delighted to announce they will be exhibiting at both the Dentistry Show and the ADI Team Congress this year.

On 17 and 18 April, we will be at the NEC in Birmingham on stand 546.

Then, between 14 and 16 May we’ll be welcoming delegates to stand 45 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.

Among the products available will be ACTIVA™ BioACTIVE , the first dental resins with a bioactive ionic resin matrix, shock-absorbing rubberised resin component, and reactive ionomer glass fillers that mimic the physical and chemical properties of natural teeth.

Prestige Dental’s model making and bleaching tray system will be on view too, which enables the dental team to fabricate trays in the practice in just one hour, allowing for significant cost savings.

A range of Denar articulators will also be on the stand. Engineered for superior performance and tested thoroughly, they offer features to suit the needs of any practice or laboratory.

Also available is The Pointer, a breakthrough innovation offering a new way to detect the exact location of buried implants under soft tissue without the need for an invasive procedure.

Whatever you need, Prestige Dental has the solution, covering areas such as:

• Impression trays and materials

• Implantology

• Rotary and diamond instruments

• Restorative

• TMJ/occlusion

• Model-making and vacuum forming

• Small equipment.

Please visit the Prestige Dental team at either Birmingham or Glasgow – or both – where you can be sure of a friendly reception and expert advice.

www.prestigedental.co.uk

Almost half of dental professionals (NHS performers, Providers and Business Owners) working within the NHS (44%) are less confident that practising dentistry within the NHS will offer the right balance of treatment versus prevention over the next 12 months than they were a year ago, according to an independent study conducted on behalf of Practice Plan.

Despite this worrying statistic, 61% of respondents were as confident that patients will be happy with the outcome of attending an NHS dental practice over the next 12 months as they were in the previous 12 months.

Also worthy of note is that smaller practices appear to have concerns about their future financial success within NHS dentistry. The study reports that 65% of practices consisting of up to three dentists are losing confidence that practising dentistry within the NHS will offer an appropriate level of remuneration over the next 12 months - which is considerably higher than the percentage of respondents across all practice sizes (54%), who felt the same.

In addition, 39% of the respondents asked are less confident about their career prospects within NHS dentistry over the next 12 months than they were a year ago.

These figures are of particular interest in light of the potential for change within NHS dentistry over the next 12 months and beyond.  The Department of Health recently announced that prototypes of a reformed contract will start later this year, with practices testing a possible new system in its entirety. 

The aim of this NHS Confidence Survey, comprising 80 telephone interviews with a range of practices offering NHS treatments to adult patients, was to gain insight into the confidence levels in NHS dentistry over the coming 12 months.

This means that as time moves on and the selected prototype practices reveal their thoughts and findings on the system, the NHS Confidence Survey, which is scheduled to be carried out at regular intervals during this time of change, will help to provide a snapshot of the general consensus within the dental profession.

What’s more, each NHS Confidence Survey will be followed up with a gathering of key opinion leaders, to explore the results in greater depth and place them in context, and then share their views with dental professionals throughout the UK. 

Practice Plan is the UK’s number one provider of practice-branded dental plans. They have been supporting dentists with NHS conversions for over 20 years, helping them to evaluate their options and, for those who decide to make the change, guide them through a safe and successful transition to private practice.

The first gathering of key opinion leaders will be held in February and includes Eddie Crouch, Michael Watson, David Houston, Tony Jacobs, Sarah Franks and Andrew Lockhart-Mirams. Information on their thoughts will be released soon.

 For those dentists thinking about their future within NHS dentistry and wondering about what a move to private dentistry might look like for them, then specialist and expert support and guidance is available from Practice Plan’s NHS Change Support Team without obligation.

The NHS Change Support Team provides advice in the key areas of strategic direction, financial planning, commercial finance, business support, team development, marketing and branding.

The NHS Change Support Team can be contacted at 01691 684120 or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/nhs for further information.

By Rebecca Allen of Initial Medical

As part of the dental team, needlestick safety is something you should be acutely aware of in your day-to-day role. A survey conducted in association with the British Association of Dental Nurses* in 2014, found that 51.2% of respondents had received a needlestick injury at some point throughout their career, with 60% of those saying they’d received more than one. When you then consider the risk of infection following a needlestick injury is estimated to be 1 in 3 for HBV, 1 in 30 for HCV and 1 in 300 for HIV**, it is vital that safety procedures are put in place in all dental surgeries.

Following the introduction of The Health & Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, all healthcare facilities must ensure that:

(a) The use of medical sharps at work is avoided so far as is reasonably practicable;

(b) When medical sharps are used at work, safer sharps are used so far as is reasonably practicable;

(c) Needles that are medical sharps are not capped after use at work unless— (i) that act is required to control a risk identified by an assessment undertaken pursuant to regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (a); and (ii) the risk of injury to employees is effectively controlled by the use of a suitable appliance, tool or other equipment;

(d) In relation to the safe disposal of medical sharps that are not designed for re-use— (i) written instructions for employees, and (ii) clearly marked and secure containers, are located close to areas where medical sharps are used at work.

Health and safety law has always placed general responsibilities on the employer to provide their staff with a healthy working environment. However, this legislation now puts further emphasis on prevention. In reality it would be difficult, if not impossible to remove all sharps from a dental practice, so the next best thing is to assess the risk correctly, use devices which limit the risk of injury and dispose of all sharps in a safe manner.

Key tips that all dental clinical staff should follow to help reduce needlestick injuries are:

·         Cease recapping of needles

·         Ensure the correct type and size of sharps disposal unit is in place

·         Make sure your sharps disposal units are assembled and closed correctly

·         Place all sharps disposal units in a safe, secure location

·         Dispose of your sharps at point of use

·         Report all sharps injuries immediately

·         In the case of a needlestick injury follow your health and safety protocol immediately

It’s important to remember that when it comes to hazardous and infectious waste, such as syringes and other sharps at a dental practice, the cradle-to-grave rule applies. The producer of waste will always be held responsible for the safe and legal disposal of it, even after it has been passed onto the waste carrier collecting it. This is why it’s important to work with comprehensively trained sharps waste disposal experts who will safely and securely dispose of it and advise on the correct products that comply with both the UK and EU legislation.  Health and safety law is criminal law and healthcare organisations can be subject to enforcement action if they fail to comply with the legal requirements. There is also always a threat of civil law action if an employee is injured due to insufficient practices and technologies being in place.  

Everyone has a role to play in the prevention of sharps injuries, from trainee staff who are learning the ropes, to practice owners who will hold legal overall responsibility for the wellbeing of their staff.

*For healthcare workers worldwide

**1216 British Association of Dental Nurses responded to the survey in August 2014, from across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.  99% of respondents were from the UK and 1% from the Republic of Ireland.

About Initial Medical Waste Experts

Initial Medical is an expert in healthcare waste management, providing a complete collection, disposal and recycling service for hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as offensive waste produced by businesses and organisations within the UK. The safe management of healthcare waste is vital to ensure your activities are not a risk to human health.  Initial Medical’s healthcare waste services ensure that all of your waste is stringently handled in compliance with legislation and in accordance with Safe Management of Healthcare Waste best practice guidelines, providing you with the peace of mind that you are adhering to current legislation.

For further information please visit www.initialmedical.co.uk or Tel 0800 731 0802.

Rebecca Allen, Category Manager, Initial Medical

Rebecca has worked in the Healthcare sector for the past 13 years and was a Research Chemist with Bayer Cropscience prior to joining Rentokil Initial in 2003.  She keeps up to date on all developments within the clinical waste management industry and is an active member of the CIWM, SMDSA and BDIA.  

As a digital company, we are always interested in digital innovations and improved efficiency, especially in the dental sector. One area of dentistry that this is particularly apparent, is in the booking of dental appointments online. Although this is a relatively new sector, there are a number of companies who are improving access, customer service and ease for patients.

Toothpick who are one of the leaders of this revolution, shared some amazing numbers from 2014, which they have given us permission to share. The infograph below gives a great indication of the growth of the sector, can dental practices afford to miss out on offering this service?

A few stats that caught our attention:-

• The fastest time from booking to seeing a dentist was 23 minutes
• 56 per cent of bookings were made in evenings and weekends
• Peak booking time for appointments is Monday and Tuesday mornings, when a booking is received every 30 seconds!
• Over 60 per cent of visitors to Toothpicks website are accessing via a mobile device

We believe this sector will continue to grow over the next few years. Dentists are always looking for new ways to gain patients and offering 24hr online booking seems a great way of doing this. The general public are increasingly familiar with doing many things online, so why should booking a dental appointment be any different? The service seems to benefit all involved. The continued growth of smartphone usage, plus the introduction of dental practice apps or mobile webpages will also fuel the growth of this sector in 2015.

It will be interesting to see how this sector evolves over the next few years but our suspicion is that it will soon be an expected feature on the majority of dental practice websites, mobile sites or apps. 

Please enjoy looking at the infograph and you can find some further information on Toothpick below. 

PFM Dental's popular preparing retirement seminars will be held again this year, beginning in Rochdale on Friday 8 May – convenient for dentists in the Greater Manchester and Oldham areas and beyond.

The programme has been developed for 2015 to include, by popular request, a longer session on wealth management. With ongoing changes in pension and tax rules, taking the appropriate steps to maximise income on retirement has never been more critical.

Seminar coordinator, Jon Drysdale of PFM Dental, says: "This is our sixth year of running these seminars and feedback has always been overwhelmingly positive. Because we've had many enquiries about wealth management in recent months, we've developed this session to cover the topic in greater depth."

As in previous years, the seminar programme includes sessions by experts on selling a dental practice, including on the legal and accountancy issues.

Similar seminars will take place in York on Friday 15 May, Sheffield on Friday 18 September and Edinburgh on Friday 25 September. More events are planned – visit the PFM Dental website for the latest information.

Places are £50 and must be booked in advance – numbers are limited. Lunch is included and each seminar qualifies for five hours of verifiable CPD.

To book your place, call Samantha Hodgson on 0845 241 4480 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Visit www.pfmdental.co.uk for more information.

The Dentistry Show 2015

Not only a dental event that the whole team will enjoy but also the perfect opportunity to gain valuable education and experience, The Dentistry Show, taking place on Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April, is the place for all dental professionals to be.

Having consistently grown since its inception in 2009,[1] The Dentistry Show expects a record high 7,500 delegates this year. Held alongside the Dental Technology Showcase (DTS), this will ensure hugely varied networking opportunities for all, enabling you to meet old friends and new from all corners of the profession. So don’t miss out!

Renowned for its electrifying atmosphere, exceptional speaker line-up and diverse learning opportunities, The Dentistry Show is one of the few completely FREE events on the dental calendar. You will have access to a 400-strong trade exhibition hosting the top dental manufacturers and suppliers from around the world. The outstanding educational programmes will be bursting with insight and fresh ideas, with sessions presented by world-class speakers such as John Kanca, Luca Dalloca, Walter Davoto, Chris Orr, Martin Trope, Sheila Scott, and many, many more.

New to 2015…

• New dates – last year, a huge 69% of 756 dentists who had not attended the Show in 2014 or 2013 said they were likely or very likely to visit if the event moved to April. So to enable even more professionals to attend, we are holding the 2015 event on Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April, at the central location of the NEC in Birmingham.

• Launchpad UK – following the global launches at IDS, the very latest products, materials and technologies to reach the UK will be unveiled from leading dental suppliers. You’ll be able to get to grips with an array of cutting-edge innovations, with experts available to provide first-chance hands-on opportunities, as well as all the information you could need.

• GDPUK Online Guide to the Dentistry Show 2015 - feature in the FREE online guide, which is being hosted by our media partners GDPUK. Further information can be found here. 

• Dental Awards 2015– having fun with friends has always been an important aspect of The Dentistry Show, and we are delighted to host the prestigious Dental Awards with Purple Media Solutions on the Friday evening. Let your hair down at this glittering black-tie gala dinner and enjoy a four-course meal and great entertainment while celebrating outstanding individuals and teams whose commitment continues to raise the bar in UK dentistry.

• Dental Update Study Day – having sold out fast, the day will offer lucky delegates who booked the chance to listen to and learn from some of the finest experts on the Dental Update editorial board including Professor Trevor Burke, Professor Avijit Banerjee, Professor Crispian Scully and Professor Jonathan Sandler.

• EndoLounge – designed in association with the British Endodontic Society, this Lounge will provide an update on the latest clinical techniques, materials and research in the field of endodontics.

• Facial Aesthetics Theatre – in 2014, 18% of attendees were looking to source research, products and services in the field of facial aesthetics.[2] Delivered in association with CCR, this new programme will explore the latest clinical techniques and products in the area to help you deliver safe and effective treatment for all your patients.

• Association of Dental Administrators and Mangers – attending the event for the first time, the team from the association will be available on the Professional Hub and within the new Practice Management Today panel in the Dental Business Theatre, helping practice managers streamline their daily process. 

• Compliance Clinic – hosted by the experts at Apolline, this theatre will offer a vast array of practical hints and tips to ensure regulation compliance for all practice.

• Village Green with Bridge2Aid – the charity will this year host a ‘Village Fete’ with traditional games such as ‘test your strength’ strongman and ‘hook a duck’, as well as a Willy Wonka ice-cream stand. Find out more about what Bridge2Aid does and how you can get involved while having great fun at stand E60.

Aside from all this, the old favourites are also back this April including:

• The ever popular PerioLounge, delivered in association with the British Society of Periodontology
• The Short-Term-Orthodontics Lounge
• The ADI Implant Theatre
• The GDP Theatre
• The CORE CPD Theatre
• Business Skills Workshops, provided in conjunction with Practice Plan
• Hands-on workshops with leading dental suppliers and educators including 3M ESPE, Implant Centres of Excellence, Software of Excellence, DENTSPLY and Schottlander
• The Aesthetic Dentist Theatre, National Dental Nursing Conference, Hygienists & Therapists Symposium and Dental Business Theatre, tailored specifically to each area of the profession.

Comments from previous shows included:

“This conference has a real buzz and the speakers are all excellent”

“The lectures have inspired me”

“A great exhibition”

“This conference is excellent and we will go back to our practice with renewed enthusiasm”

With all of this plus much more to look forward to, all free of charge, what are you waiting for? Register for yourself and your whole team online at www.thedentistryshow.co.uk/preview.

If you only attend one dental event in 2015, make sure it’s The Dentistry Show 2015!

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015 - Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April, NEC in Birmingham. For further details visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk.

In the run up to the Dentistry Show 2015, GDPUK are hosting an online guide to the show, with exhibitors invited to send us articles about new services / products, competitions they are running or reasons to visit their stand.

Reasons to publish your article in the GDPUK guide:-

• Established since 1997, GDPUK reaches thousands of dentists on a daily basis
• We use social media to share the articles and increase recognition of your brand or product
• Promotion of the guide on our GDPUK Forum which currently has 8000 members and growing
• Our 2014 guide attracted 5000 views
• Articles stay on the site for one year at least, so could potentially gain you business long after the show.

So if you would like to feature in this FREE guide, Please send us information about your stand, your latest products or services or anything else you would like to share and we will publish the information in our online guide.

We will be featuring and promoting the guide in the run up to the show.

If you would like to share some information about your business and your plans for Dentistry Show 2015, please send a word file (max 500 words) and images (max 3 per article) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you have any further questions or would like to advertise on GDPUK in the run up to the Dentistry Show, please get in touch. 

Designed specifically for the dental market and for an improved patient experience

Clinical waste management and infection control expert Initial Medical, is now supplying peppermint scented gloves to the dental sector.

Prolonged glove use and repeated hand washing can cause the skin to become dry and chapped, making those working in the dental industry more susceptible to dermatitis. ‘Unigloves Green LANO-E™’ gloves, available from Initial Medical, contain a microfilm of Lanolin and Vitamin E to sooth and soften the skin, on the hands of the wearer.

Designed specifically for the dental market, ‘Unigloves Green LANO-E™’ gloves provide the very highest protection, while having the added benefit of being peppermint scented to increase patient experience – helping to reassure them they are being examined in a clean, safe environment. With a fully textured surface for increased grip, the gloves are 100% latex, low allergy and rated medical grade AQL 1.5.

Initial Medical is also marketing two water line cleaners for dental practitioners.  Sterisil Citrisil and Citrisil Blue tablets continuously disinfect and maintain dental water lines. Using distilled or purified tap water, these tablets effervesce to provide a safe, pH balanced treatment.

The Sterisil Straw and Antimicrobial Bottle is the perfect solution for transitioning from daily tablets to a single yearly change out. The Sterisil Straw works 365 days to continuously disinfect dental unit water lines and provide safe and clean water.

www.initialmedical.co.uk

About Initial Medical

Initial Medical is an expert in healthcare waste management, providing a complete collection, disposal and recycling service for hazardous and non-hazardous waste and offensive waste produced by businesses and organisations within the UK. The safe management of healthcare waste is vital to ensure your activities are not a risk to human health.  Initial Medical’s healthcare waste services ensure that all of your waste is stringently handled in compliance with legislation and in accordance with Safe Management of Healthcare Waste best practice guidelines, providing you with the peace of mind that you are adhering to current legislation.

For further information or to order please visit www.initialmedical.co.uk or Tel: 0800 731 0802.

Media enquiries:

For more information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 023 8022 5478 or 07799423013.

The key to success for any business is providing the service and products required by its customers. Finding out what people want from the business is essential in order to tailor the service delivered and meet their expectations – and this should not be different in dentistry. As a trained professional, you will of course be best placed to understand the clinical treatments patients need, but it’s still important to find out what outcomes the patient desires.

Sheila Scott, renowned dental business consultant, believes practices need to take this into consideration, changing their approach to improve the patient experience and enable the business to survive and prosper in the dental industry:

“I have often come across situations where dental nurses and dentists in the same practice have contradictory ideas about what their patients want,” Sheila says. “Similarly, many receptionists, who are the first people to greet visiting patients and provide information, may have different ideas again, and additionally do not know what the practice has to offer or what goes on behind the treatment room doors.

“Practice teams need to understand patient needs accurately, and have protocols in place to deliver an excellent service that meets their patients’ expectations. Communication is key here – patients need to understand how the practice looks after them, and how it meets their perceived needs.

“Many patients still think that when they visit a practice, the dentist simply looks in their mouth to check for ‘holes’ and treatment needs. But we all know there are many more aspects to the examination than that, and we now know that what patients really want from a practice is ‘a clean bill of health’.  Patients need to be led gently through the full examination so they can fully appreciate that this is the purpose of the practice too – and so they can appreciate the full value of their visit. This will increase patient satisfaction and engagement due to enhanced understanding, and better engagement with dental health usually means that patients understand the value of any procedures needed for improvements.”

As Sheila goes on to discuss, effective communication requires teamwork.

“It is important for the whole team to work together so that consistent messages are conveyed to every patient. Showing patients how much the practice cares about their needs will further enhance their experience, ultimately boasting the practice’s reputation and increasing referrals.

“Additional benefits of close collaboration and effective communication mean that facilities and skills within the practice can be fully utilised. The hygiene department is the perfect example of this – I think they are the most under-used, under-rated profit centres of practices throughout the UK. We could double, triple or even quadruple the amount of hygiene services offered and it would go a long way to capturing the hearts and minds of patients, improving their experience and encouraging them to return time and time again.”

Sheila is taking on the role as Chair of the Dental Business Theatre at The Dentistry Show 2015 and will be giving a lecture entitled ‘The Healthy Practice’ as part of the two-day conference programme.

“The Dentistry Show is one of the key meetings of the year for everyone working in the dental industry. It is busier and busier every time - the formula just works. As the Chair of the Dental Business Conference I am looking forward to welcoming a variety of industry-leading speakers, who will discuss an extensive range of topics to enlighten professionals and encourage the long-term success of their businesses.

“I will consider the approach practices need to take to be able to establish what their patients need, and how to meet those needs. I’ll also look further into the importance of teamwork and a unified approach from the entire team, helping dental practices to add value to their services.”

Sheila will be speaking alongside Tracy Stuart, Nigel Reece, Sarah Buxton and Krishan Joshi within the Dental Business Theatre, with topics covered including employment and HR law, marketing and finances. An array of additional learning opportunities will be on offer for principal dentists and their teams throughout the event, with lecture programmes dedicated to different dental disciplines and designed to enhance both clinical and business skills.

Hours of verifiable CPD, hands-on workshops and live surgery demonstrations will also be available, as well as an extensive trade exhibition hosting all the leading dental manufacturers and suppliers. The exciting new Launchpad UK initiative will provide you access to the very latest products, materials and technologies to reach the UK industry, ensuring your practice stays ahead of the game.

To discover how much more The Dentistry Show 2015 has to offer you and your team, and to book your free passes, go online today.

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015 will be held on Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April at the NEC in Birmingham. For further details or to book your free pass please visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk, call 020 7348 5269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Hosted by The Dentistry Show, designed with the BADN

The Dentistry Show will this year host the National Dental Nursing Conference, designed in association with the British Association of Dental Nursing (BADN). The intricate two-day programme will host an astounding speaker line-up and will cover a vast array of relevant topics to help you enhance your everyday practice, streamline your routines and elevate the standard of patient service delivered.

Phil Hughes (below) MBA, Chief Executive of the National Examining Board for Dental Nurses (NEBDN), will be among the industry-leading speakers. With a background in business development, Phil took on his role at the NEBDN in 2008 and has since been responsible for the organisation through changes such as the development of new qualifications.

“I have attended The Dentistry Show in the past, and thought it was a very good event – I really enjoyed the experience,” Phil says. He will be delivering a session entitled “Education and training for dental nurses in the future” and hopes to inspire delegates to excel in their careers.

“I’m hoping the lecture will give delegates an insight into the developments we are seeing at the NEBDN. We are currently researching and changing the range of qualifications that we provide to better meet the changing demands of the modern industry and help improve the career pathway for dental nurses.

“There is much discussion about the extended duties of dental nurses and how their responsibilities will grow, and of course the training they require as a result. The NEBDN is very keen to remain at the forefront of education and training, and we will be doing a lot of work to better understand the potential career pathways for dental nurses in order to tailor our qualifications effectively. I hope delegates attending the session will take away a better understanding of what to expect of education and training in the future. There are many opportunities for modern dental nurses, and we need to challenge ourselves a bit more in order to get those voices heard.”

Also taking to the podium will be Mike Sharland, sharing his extensive expertise on intraoral photography. Currently the Technical Lead in Clinical Photography at the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry, Mike has more than 30 year’s experience in teaching the topic. He says:

“Many practices are now routinely taking facial, profile, smile and intraoral photographs of their patients. Introducing clinical photography into your practice should be a whole team experience so dental nurses need to be aware of the latest technologies and techniques. My session will give an overview of the ever-expanding use of dental photography in the practice, as well as the all important equipment choices and techniques to produce consistently good quality images for marketing and patient and staff education. Delegates attending this session should bring their compact cameras with them.”

Demonstrating the diversity of the educational programme designed especially fro dental nurses, Gemma Breeze from Smile Essential will explore the world of social media. Having started her career as a dental nurse in 2002, Gemma’s creativity and flare for marketing led her into the role of Dental Marketing Manager, and she is soon to launch new training courses to help dental professionals fully utilise their social media platforms. She says:

“The Dentistry Show really engages the whole dental team with so many different learning opportunities available. Having been interested in speaking for a while, I am delighted to be presenting a session at this year’s event.

“Many practice principals have recently started to use social media platforms such Facebook, but busy practice life often leaves little time to maintain them properly. Dental nurses are now taking on more roles that involve treatment coordination and marketing, so they are perfectly positioned to manage social media accounts on behalf of the practice.

“During my session, I’ll discuss how delegates can find their practice’s voice for their Facebook accounts in order to best promote their brand. I’ll look at how to do this while remaining professional and complying with the GDC guidelines, and what to do if something goes wrong. I will also offer some insider’s tips on how to stand out – what delegates can post, how to schedule posts and how to monitor competitor sites.”

With exciting learning and networking opportunities available for professionals in all areas of the dental profession, you and your whole team are sure to enjoy the vibrant two-day event. Register for your FREE delegate passes online today.

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015 - Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th April, NEC in Birmingham. To register for your free delegate pass, please visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk, call 020 7348 5269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the LISTERINE® Advanced Defence range, are delighted to sponsor Professor Nicola West speaking at this year’s Dentistry Show.

LISTERINE® Advanced Defence Gum Treatment is a twice-daily mouthwash clinically proven to treat gum disease as an adjunct to mechanical cleaning and to offer an alternative to chlorhexidine based remedies.

It is formulated with unique LAE (Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate) technology that forms a physical coating on the pellicle to prevent bacteria attaching, and so interrupts biofilm formation. When used after brushing, it treats gum disease as shown by the reduction of bleeding by 50.9% (p<0.001) in only 4 weeks.¹

Designed to help you treat and/or prevent specific oral care conditions, this range also includes LISTERINE® Advanced Defence Sensitive and LISTERINE® Advanced Defence Cavity Guard.

With this range of expert daily mouthwashes, Johnson & Johnson is looking forward to working more closely with dental professionals to help deliver advanced treatment outcomes for patients, for expert care when you’re not there.

For information on the LISTERINE® Advanced Defence range, please visit stand D72 to speak to a member of the LISTERINE® Professional team.

References

1. Bleeding Index Reduction DOF 1 – 2013 (LAEBBA0001), 50.9% Reduction in whole-mouth mean Bleeding Index at 4 weeks

UK/LI/15-4207

Kerr’s team is excited to meet up with dental professionals at the forthcoming Dentistry Show.

In addition to exhibiting the brand new Elements™ Free obturation system, which has all the great benefits of the original Elements system, plus it’s cordless, you can expect to see:

·         SonicFill™, the fast and easy composite bulk fill system for posterior restorations

·         MetaFix™ all-in-one matrix system for Class II – MO/OD/MOD composite fillings in the posterior area

·         OptiBond XTR self-etch, two-component dental adhesive, for use in all direct and indirect procedures, and with all cements and substrates.

We are also delighted that highly respected endodontist Bill Seddon will be joining us on the stand to answer any questions, as well as lecturing on endodontics and Elements™ Free, and leading several hands-on workshops throughout the event.

To speak to Bill, see Elements™ Free in action or to view Kerr’s other products, please visit stand P72.

Now we know that we need to market our practices, we need to know how much to spend and where to spend it.

As I have suggested on numerous other occasions, 5% of the practice’s gross revenue should be invested in marketing. What I have also realised over the years is that for practices with an annual turnover of £0.5 million, while spending £25,000 on their marketing will provide some results, it’s not enough to set their campaign on fire. Similarly, a young practice turning over £300,000 with a £15,000 marketing spend, will see a relatively small return on investment.

It is necessary therefore to manage your expectations. There is a certain quantity of investment that can have as much of an effect as the quality of the marketing. There is a tipping point where the size of the investment will generate momentum, regardless of what you decide to do with it, below which the return on investment can be difficult to see.

In fact, I recently went so far as to suggest a minimum marketing spend of £50,000 (cue the cries of ‘what?!’). Realistically, I think anything over £25,000, wherever possible, will see more bang for your buck and provide enough momentum to achieve a high return on marketing investment (ROMI).

So the next question is how you deploy your resources. There are three main areas to focus your efforts in the modern marketing world: digital, direct and word of mouth. The latter of these of course requires little financial investment – it’s all about the language used with patients, as well as the self-esteem of team members who are asking for referrals and tackling the fear of rejection. While it appears to be a hideously difficult thing to do, word of mouth marketing can be highly effective.

With this in mind, the majority of your marketing budget will be allocated to the remaining two marketing avenues – digital and direct. The former of these involves Google and Facebook advertising, an effectively designed website, a carefully orchestrated social media programme and lifecycle marketing techniques to create short and long term nurture sequences. Direct marketing concerns more traditional methods such as print media, signage, business cards, smile evaluation questionnaires, waiting lounge TV loops, radio advertising and networking.

I usually suggest that approximately 50% of the overall marketing spend should go to each area. However, there are more specific allocation decisions to make at this point: for example, in digital marketing for the next 12 months, how much will you invest in the website? How much will you invest in your social media channels? In your content creation and curation? Equally, direct marketing can be split into further sub categories as listed above, and the budget can be calculated and allocated quite simply between each area.

It’s the detailed breakdown of spend that makes for an authentic marketing plan. The actual figures will vary depending on your annual marketing budget and the goals identified for your individual practice.

10 year’s ago, practice owners concentrated their marketing energy on newspaper advertising. The fashion at the moment however, is to focus on Google advertising, creative websites and social media channels such as Facebook. There can be a ‘herding’ instinct in dentistry where dentists speak to colleagues, find out what they’re doing, and then follow the crowd. While this can be effective when sharing ideas of what works, this is only one phase of the research process, and it is the easy solution to simply stop there and implement similar strategies.

The key, is to look further into the ROMI. Through treatment coordination and patient journey systems, you should be looking to engage patients in a detailed conversation about how they came to visit the practice. If they discovered the practice through your website, were they searching for ‘a dentist in the area’, or for your practice specifically? If the latter, where did they originally come across the practice name?

These conversations also need to happen every time a new patient visits – while you may have created a preliminary 12-month marketing plan, it is a living document and subject to change throughout the year. By analysing the source of new patients on a monthly basis, tracking your marketing exploits and establishing your ROMI, you are able to refine your strategy through the reallocation of resources. Think of your practice as a sailing boat and you are at the helm – you plot your course straight, but the boat needs to tack and jibe left and right according to the tide, wind and trim in order to follow that course. Similarly, your marketing strategy needs to adjust to both external and internal factors affecting your practice, helping you to achieve your goals.

This is exactly what the Ultimate Marketing Academy from 7connections is designed to help you do. Through quarterly meetings and on-going support, we will help you not only establish what to do, how much to spend and where to spend it, but we’ll also share effective tactics to help you maximise your ROMI and sail through 2015.

For more information about 7connections and the Ultimate Marketing Academy, please call 01647 478145, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. or visit www.7connections.com

For your chance to win an iPad, simply visit http://www.futurehealthpartnership.co.uk/survey/ to fill in Future Health Partnership’s (FHP) survey and share your opinions on the business of dentistry.

FHP community interest company (CIC) is a not-for-profit healthcare organisation.  It is similar to a ‘John Lewis’ style of business, offering a viable, ethical future for healthcare. Each practice becomes part of the group, and will be held for the benefit of all staff – not just the practice owner.

Simon Gallier, the Managing Partner of FHP, commented: ‘I’m a dentist. I believe in dentistry. I believe in the future of healthcare, and I think the best people to run it and deliver it for patients are the staff themselves.

‘I feel this is the logical step in running the business of dentistry.  What would be the ideal model for dentistry in the future? I think FHP is it. If people do care and believe in better, they will ultimately thrive. Please let us know what you think by filling in our survey and, who knows, you might even be the iPad winner.’

The iPad winner will be chosen on 27^th February 2015.

For more information on Future Health Partnership, please call 08000 789 402.

Every year the Association of Dental Groups’ (ADG) member companies invest significantly in their training and development for their people, as well as in surgeries and equipment to ensure that dentists are able to offer the highest standards of care to their patients. The ADG’s commitment to wider education and training is epitomised by the Association’s annual Bursary Awards.

The number and standard of Bursary Awards entries in 2014 outstripped previous figures by a significant margin. The winners were announced at a prestigious awards reception held in the Library at the Royal College of Surgeons on the 13^th February.

The awards are divided into three separate categories: Postgraduate, Undergraduate (Professionalism) and Undergraduate (Management). All applicants were judged by lead members of the ADG, and the panel was delighted with the overall standard of this year’s entries.

Postgraduate Award

The Postgraduate Award was open to foundation or postgraduate dentists and was looking for the most innovative voluntary project that sought to improve or promote better oral health. The winning applicant received a prize of £5,000, which consisted of £2,500 as an award for the winner and a further £2,500 to be used to support the delivery of their project.

The winners of the ADG Postgraduate Bursary Award were Orna Ni Choileain and Niall McGoldrick for their project ­­­­­­­­Let’s Talk About Mouth Cancer.

On winning the award Orna said: “When I found out we won the bursary, I had the perfect mixture of shock and excitement. It feels like a great achievement to have our work setting up the 'Let's Talk About Mouth Cancer’ charity recognised by other professionals on a national level. This bursary will allow us to continue our efforts to raise awareness of mouth cancer. It's a sign of confidence for us and the wider team that all the work we have been doing over the last year has been worthwhile”

“Mouth cancer is the one of fastest growing cancers in the UK, with incidence rates in Scotland being the highest. In fact, I found my first case in general practice within 9 months of graduating. Let's Talk About Mouth Cancer focuses on raising awareness in the general public and among professionals. With assistance from the Oral Surgery Department of the Edinburgh Dental Institute, three mouth cancer screening events were held in 2014. The first was in a marquee on Bristo Square, the second at the Edinburgh Canal Festival and the third on the Meadows during the Edinburgh Festival. Free lectures to local dental professionals on the importance of the prevention and early detection of mouth cancer were also provided.” 

“Let’s Talk About Mouth Cancer has recently registered as a charity (SC045100) in order to build on and continue the good work. There are plans for further screening and educational events in the March 2015, which will be largely funded from the bursary award. It's great to see the Association of Dental Groups helping young dentists all over the UK to build awareness of oral cancers at a local level.”

Undergraduate Awards

Applicants for the two undergraduate awards were required to submit their entry detailing a voluntary project that relates to either professionalism or leadership and management in dentistry, with the winning entry for each awarded a prize of £1,000.

For the professionalism award there were four main competencies to cover, these were: ethics, professionalism with regard to patients, professionalism with regards to self, and professionalism with regards to clinical team and peers. The management and leadership award also included four main competencies: personal and practice organisation, legislative, financial and leadership management.

The undergraduate bursaries were open to all undergraduate dentistry students and applications were required to be supported by a reference from a tutor and college.

The ADG would like to congratulate all the winners, and in particular Rosie Pritchett, Corwin Hine, Mark Franks and Luke Fisher-Brown, the Undergraduate (Management) Gold Award Winners, and Amardeep Singh Dhadwal, the Undergraduate (Professionalism) Gold Award Winner.

On winning the bursary for their project Oral health education for the homeless community of East London Rosie Pritchett said: “It’s great to have won; we’ve been working on this project for the last two and a half years, so it’s really nice to see some recognition for ourselves and for the project. 

“Our focus was on delivering oral health education for homeless people, covering four main topics: diet and oral health, oral cancer, periodontal health and alcohol, and access to NHS dentistry. As undergraduates we found that we were in a really good position to spread simple but essential messages about oral health, and this was very well received.”

Amardeep Singh Dhadwal is a student at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, (Queen Mary, University of London), he says:

“This the first time I’ve entered anything like this and it came as a big surprise to be chosen as the winner. I feel very blessed and I am thankful to everyone who took the time to read my entry. I would definitely recommend other students to enter the competition next year; it is a great opportunity to discuss and consider what professionalism means to you and what you aspire to as a dental professional."

Each undergraduate category also included a Silver winner who received £750 and a Bronze winner who received £250. The ADG would like to congratulate Deborah Evans (Undergraduate Management Silver Award); Kirun Ray (Undergraduate Management Bronze Award); Lewis Olsson (Undergraduate Professionalism Silver Award); and Gemma Wheeler (Undergraduate Professionalism Bronze Award).  

The ADG remains committed to supporting innovation and development across the dental industry and next year will be announcing details of this year’s awards scheme later in the Spring.. 

For more information about the ADG visit www.dentalgroups.co.uk.

I bid you all a good day.  Those of you that have read “the books” will have no doubt pondered the extracurricular uses of a dental dam and floss for example. This weekend of course see the film emerge – regarded by many as a rather poor representation of the book, in itself not exactly a literary classic, I am told by others you understand …

But we dentists know better . Relax, it’s not the aesthetic dentistry shade guide!

You see, its a little known fact:  GREY stands for GDC Regulatory Examination for You

This week sees the 2015 Accountability Hearing with the General Dental Council by the Health Committee of the House of Commons. [1] 

You have 4 days to respond

This is very much the Headmaster’s Interview.

Now do not get over excited - this is not going to be passionate demonstration of Parliamentary S&M as the Chief Executive of the GDC is tied up and verbally thrashed by rabid members of the committee.

You only have to explore, for example a past accountability hearing of the GMC or the 2014 Accountability hearing with the Health and Care Professions Council to realise much of it will be affirmation of what has been undertaken on behalf of Parliament.  An Annual Report to Stakeholders.  There is a danger that the men and women in grey will merely spend the day formally noting this and noting that. The stench of white emulsion may well fight the colour sense of a very dull affair. Potentially grey indeed.

UNLESS YOU ACT …

We dentists and our teams must use this opportunity to raise the GDC up the Parliamentary agenda. At the end of this hearing it should be clear that the Health Committee are examining a failed organisation with a runaway budget, and absolutely no idea about how to organise FtP. The Committee should be under no illusion that the profession regulated by  the GDC is running scared  and disengaged in the extreme, while the report from the Professional Standards Authority could have used one word to describe the GDC: Useless.

Proper calling to account of the GDC simply will not happen if we allow The GDC’s presentation team to smooch their way under the skin of the Committee unchallenged in any way.

UNLESS YOU ACT …

We, as registrants, must assume that the BDA, Dental Fusion, and other professional representative bodies are submitting some solid evidence. If you are a member of Dental Protection or the DDU and MDDUS you may assume these widely respected bodies, which are in the thick of FtP, will be presenting heavy hitting material of their own. If you want to be sure, ask your Indemnifier!  One would like to think that the FGDP[UK] also will rise to the challenge.

There really is only one major area of concern that the profession has about the GDC – it is the abject mismanagement of Fitness to Practice and its cost implications allied to the inevitable. but unwanted, change to excessively defensive practice.

No one is suggesting there is not a task to be undertaken.  But the sheer crassness of assuming every banal criticism reflects a wider risk to the public which must be aired expensively and in public beggars belief. If like me you read the Charges are of the GDC website, [2] I am sure you cannot fail to agree that many of the cases simply are not worthy of a full FtP process at £78000 of YOUR money PER DAY …

UNLESS YOU ACT …

If you have an experience of FtP I must ask that on behalf of your colleagues you summon up the strength to report your experience to the Health Committee as I am sure Mr Colin Campbell may well do. Please do read and share his blog [3]   As if by serendipity, as this Health Committee is meeting a colleague, Mr Colin Campbell, is beginning to publicly reflect upon his most extraordinary experience at a full GDC hearing.  The sheer injustice is almost mediaeval in magnitude. And to think that many of our colleagues sit upon the panels. Whether they are part of the problem of course is a separate debate.

If one event appears to demonstrate all that is wrong with the GDC and its massive problems this case might be it.

If you live in fear of that letter from Wimpole Street and feel FtP is an issue, write to the Health Committee.

UNLESS YOU ACT …

Keep it brief. Keep it factual. Keep it succinct and to the point.  But please: communicate . The Committee’s guidance on a submission may be read here. [4]

This Accountability Hearing does present our best  opportunity since the ARF Court Case [which despite the GDC claims, I seem to think they lost!] to flag to the Health Committee the many concerns we have as registrants. I suspect we might have to remind the HC of this Court Case if we judge by the GDC Chairman’s e-mail and his failure to mention it!

Do not count upon the GDC to present anything but a self-congratulatory review imbued with a warm rosy light .

If the Health Committee are to gain a true measure of the profession wide disbelief and anger, you have a small but essential part to play.

Remember that cheque you wrote before Christmas … the £900 odd pounds one ….

It’s payback time

50 Shades of Grey ….  More like a Multi Coloured Swap Shop of stories of disgraceful Regulation in action.  Now I am showing my age ! [5]

The deadline for submitting written evidence is 5.00pm on Thursday 19 February 2015

It’s the GDC Regulatory Examination for You

UNLESS YOU ACT …  YOU RISK THE GDC GETTING AWAY WITH IT.  

It will be you that goes 50 shades of grey if you get a letter.

Web References

[1]  http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/2015-accountability-hearing-general-dental-council/

[1b]http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmstords/27519.htm

152.—(1) Select committees shall be appointed to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the principal government departments as set out in paragraph (2) of this order and associated public bodies.

[2] http://www.gdc-uk.org/Membersofpublic/Hearings/Pages/Hearings-list.aspx

[3] http://colin-campbell.co.uk/index.php/2015/01/gdc-persons-view-process-part-1/

[4]  http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/have-your-say/take-part-in-committee-inquiries/commons-witness-guide/

·         Guidelines

·         To successfully make a submission via the online form on a committee’s website, documents need to:

o   Be less than 25 MB in size

o   Be in Word (doc, docx, rtf, txt ooxml or odt format, not PDF)

o   Contain as few logos or embedded pictures as possible

o   Contain no macros

o   Comprise a single document. If there are any annexes or appendices, these should be included in the same document.

o   It also assists the committee if those submitting evidence adhere to the following guidelines. Each submission should:

o   State clearly who the submission is from, i.e. whether from yourself in a personal capacity or sent on behalf of an organisation, for example the submission could be headed ‘Written evidence submitted by xxxxxx’

o   Be concise – we recommend no more than 3,000 words in length

o   Begin with an executive summary in bullet point form of the main points made in the submission

o   Include a brief introduction about yourself/your organisation and your reason for submitting evidence

o   Have numbered paragraphs

o   Include any factual information you have to offer from which the committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses for their reactions

o   Include any recommendations for action by the Government or others which you would like the committee to consider.

[5]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Coloured_Swap_Shop

Brand new course dates have been released for the popular and in-depth Implant Restorative Course run by the experts at Ten Dental.

Learn from top-class implant mentors and trainers – Dr Martin Wanendeya and Dr Nik Sisodia. With many years of experience, they can guide you through the complete process offering you the insight and knowledge to confidently and competently restore implants in your practice.

Covering a combination of lectures, demonstrations and hands-on components, the four in-depth modules will take you right through getting started with dental implant restorations to managing more complex cases.

Courses start on Friday the 8^th of May

Module one – 8^th May

Module two – 26^th June

Module three – 6^th November

Module four – TBC

Further courses start on the 20^th of November

Module one – 20^th November

Modules two, three and four – TBC

Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your knowledge and develop the skills needed to offer your patients first-class restorations.

For more information about Ten Dental and The Implant Restoration Course visit www.implant-restoration.com , or Facebook page: Implant Restoration Course-IRC, or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 7622 7610

A-dec looks forward to welcoming you to stand B20, where at this year’s Dentistry Show we will be bringing our showrooms to you.

We will be showcasing the full spectrum of fully integrated dental chairs, our award winning LED dental light and cabinetry solutions from the current range. All of our dental chairs can be tailored to your individual specification to give you everything you need - after all, you could spend over 26,565 hours with your dental chair throughout your career so it needs to work for you and your dental team.

Our A-dec Territory Managers will be on stand for the duration of the show to offer you design, treatment room and equipment advice so bring your plans along or ask the team for an on stand demo. For more information visit us on stand B20 or call us on 0800 233 285.

0800 233 285
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.a-dec.co.uk

If the answer is yes, then we would like to make you aware of the online guide we will be running in the run up to the Dentistry Show 2015.

Please send us information about your stand, your latest products or services or anything else you would like to share and we will publish the information in our online guide which can be found below.

We will be featuring and promoting the guide in the run up to the show.

If you would like to share some information about your business and your plans for Dentistry Show 2015, please send a word file (max 500 words) and images (max 3 per article) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If you have any further questions or would like to advertise on GDPUK in the run up to the Dentistry Show, please get in This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

We have written a short guide to the different marketing tools that are available to our clients, that can lead to online marketing success.

Our clients utilise a range of methods to get returns on their marketing investments. Once a banner ad is sent over to us, the client will let us know where they want their potential customers to be sent, after a banner receives a click.

There are a number of options for the client to choose; the client’s homepage, a specific landing page, a PDF brochure, a survey or sometimes a data collection page on our site.

Let’s looks at the different methods that can be used by our clients.

1.   Email Form

Recently we have had a client use an older fashioned method for when a user clicks on a banner and that is email. So when the user clicks on the banner, a new email automatically pops up, which asks for the clients details (data collection) and then how many they would like to order (sales). The email is then sent direct to the advertiser and hopefully orders are received via email.

Although very direct, it is a simple way of collecting data and ultimately sales! I believe this method can only be truly successful if the offer is incredibly enticing or the brand is well trusted and doesn't need an introduction.

As an example of how this method works, if you would like our latest media pack or would like to know more about gdpuk.com, please clickThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

2.   PDF Brochure

When a client clicks on a banner (usually from a distributor or equipment manufacturer) they can get taken to a pop PDF page, which has the benefit of looking like a real brochure and you can flick through the brochure as you look at the different offers or incentives. The disadvantage of this method is that there is not always an obvious place to actually order a product or make an enquiry.

3.   Survey

Surveys are an effective way of gathering data that is useful to your business or organisation. We believe that to get a satisfactory return from a survey there has to be some form of incentive in place. The incentive could take the form of a prize or even some free information that may not be available elsewhere.

We recently ran a survey on our site that was based on the CQC. Anyone responding to the survey was sent a free information pack on the next CQC inspections. Over a two month period, the business running the survey received 170 replies which creates a fantastic amount of data for our customer.

Surveys can be hosted on our site or they can be hosted on a survey site such as survey monkey or snap survey.

4.   Landing Page

I have written about landing pages before (can be found here) but a specific landing page remains one of the most effective tools for gaining customers or building data. When a landing page is produced that is clear, concise and simple, they often produce the best results.

Large businesses will often build a number of landing pages for their product range so the visitor can view the information with minimum fuss. For smaller businesses it is not always cost effective to produce separate landing pages but one page that takes the user straight to the product or services you are offering could make all the difference.

5.   Homepage

When you place a banner ad on a website you are obviously keen for users of the site to click on the banner. If the user gets taken to a generic homepage, it then becomes difficult to track results because the user will get presented with a load of information and may not even be able to see the specific product or service that made them click. Sending a visitor to your homepage is one of the least effective methods you can employ. In our opinion it is worth investing your time in having a specific page that will help generate a return on your marketing investment.

A comprehensive guide to landing pages can be found on quicksprout.com plus on loads of other sites! 

6.   Data Collection

Data Collection is often something that our clients are looking for, they want to build up their list of contacts or receive email addresses so they can send the user further information. Data collection landing pages can be hosted on either our site or the clients own page.

For it to work in an effective way, there has to be either an incentive in place for the customer or the product or services you are looking to provide is extremely innovative or unique so that is catches the eye of the user and they want to leave their data with you.

Choosing the right method, could really help increase revenue!

We hope you find these options useful and it kickstarts the process of you thinking about the different ways you can engage with your customer. Once a customer clicks on the banner, the method you use has to be viewed as a sales tool and depending on what you are looking to achieve, you can then make a decision on what will hopefully bring you the most success & revenue to your business.   

If you would like further information on how targeted advertising can work for your dental business, please get in touch viaThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at the GDPUK office, 0161 270 0453. 

“Talent wins games, but team work and intelligence wins championships”

-       Sir Don Bradman

Working effectively in a team is essential for the provision of successful dentistry – as Sir Don Bradman said: “Talent wins games, but team work and intelligence wins championships”. This quote about cricket is also appropriate to dentistry, where a team approach promotes continuity of care that is comprehensive, convenient, cost effective and efficient[i].

To this end, The Dentistry Show 2015 promises to be a fantastic event for the entire dental team. With a world-class line up of professional speakers covering an extensive range of topics, there is truly something for everyone.

Back for another year is the highly popular Aesthetic Dentist Conference. Kicking off proceedings on Friday 17^th of April will be Conference Chair, Dr Chris Orr and Co-Owner of Wired Orthodontics, Dr Ian Hutchinson.

This will not be Dr Hutchinson’s first visit to The Dentistry Show:

“In recent years I've run a stand at The Dentistry Show with Wired Orthodontics which I co-own with Sue Bessant. We provide one-to-one lab services and training to general dentists working in cosmetic orthodontics and consider it the premier event in our calendar. The Show is always well attended and we know delegates tend to be top professionals who recognise the value in our business, so it's the best place to meet clients new and old.

“I've also given a couple of talks in the past and found it very a rewarding experience. It's surprising how much you learn even behind the rostrum! The team behind The Dentistry Show recognise the need to evolve the event but also keep it's important core elements that make sure we all keep coming back.”

Dr Orr’s and Dr Hutchinson’s joint lecture will focus on the combination of orthodontic and restorative treatments in a session entitled: “The Orthodontic-Restorative Interface: Simplifying Diagnosis & Communication to Make Teamwork Easier”.

Commenting on his lecture, Dr Hutchinson says:

“We’ve all been there with busy surgeries and full days – we are happy enough with the aesthetic outcomes we achieve and we leave it at that. But there's always those aesthetic cases that could be really special. A combination of orthodontic and restorative treatments planned with clear goals from the outset would achieve a fantastic result with a reduced biological cost, but is it really worth the effort?

“Sometimes the planning can be complicated and convoluted. However much you might be tempted to embark on such a collaborative venture, the knowledge of likely pitfalls might put you off before you begin. You think you can handle your side of things, but getting exactly what you want from other team members requires time and energy you can't always spare.”

Chris and Ian's lecture is designed to help you take on these cases – establishing a diagnosis and from this creating a joint ortho-restorative treatment plan in the knowledge that you, your team and your patients will all be smiling at the end!

A myriad of other learning opportunities is available for delegates at The Dentistry Show 2015, with conference programmes dedicated to each field and additional theatres offering insight into each dental discipline. Hours of verifiable CPD, hands-on workshops, live surgery demonstrations and business skills sessions will also be on offer, plus delegates have the chance to attend the prestigious Dental Awards 2015, the premier awards event of the dental calendar.

Make sure you take full advantage of everything The Dentistry Show has to offer by booking your free delegates passes online today!

The Dentistry Show and DTS 2015 - Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April, NEC in Birmingham. For further details visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk call 020 7348 5269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you would like to feature in the GDPUK Official Online Guide to the Dentistry Show - please email us and we will feature you on this page. Get in touch for further details - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

1. What do we do about the General Dental Council? 

2. What do we do about NHS dentistry in England? 

3. What can all dentists look forward to in the next parliament? 

The Health Select Committee will be holding an accountability meeting with the GDC on the 3^rd of March. It’s about time too, as they haven’t been asked to account at all to anyone but the judiciary recently (and they lost). It will be interesting to see if they try to spin that meeting in the same way as they did in the press release just after the decision in the high court in December.

It looks like the GDC have finally got to face the only people who they are answerable to. I wonder if they are going to try to wiggle out of the unavoidable truths?

I presume everyone reading this is going to submit his or her evidence to the HSC through this link before the deadline of 19^th February.

No?

Why not?

Are you scared?

Well actually, that is probably extremely close to the truth. I am personally quite worried these days that a GDC letter will arrive on my doorstep for some reason or another (and that is not because I know I have something to fear – my inherent belief structure tries to ensure I do the right thing by patients at all times, but I have also been openly critical of the GDC, which I’m sure they do not like – and they get to decide what is deemed as professional or not).  All someone these days has to say (even in jest) is “I’ll report you to the GDC for…” or ‘I bet the GDC have their eyes on you” and it feels like a letter from Wimpole Street is already winging its way to you starting the process of investigation and a potential loss of livelihood.

The lack of proportionality that has been written about previously means that a situation like this could be an increasing possibility for all of us. It’s why the ARF had to go up according to the GDC for goodness sake. To put a few figures on this, if you reckon on 40,000 dental registrants having about a 40 year career, and the current data from the GDC is that there were 1700 complaints in the first 6 months of 2014, then the maths shows that each registrant will have 3.4 complaints in a career. (3400 complaints x40 /40,000). Some of these complaints are against DCP’s, ok, and not all of them will go to the full Fitness to Practice hearing,  (but 40% of them currently do) but I’m sure you get the overall idea. Is it right that if this way of dealing with complaints continues, on average, every single dentist will have to face this career-wrenching possibility more than once? This alone tells the general reader that the regulator is going the wrong way about it.

Since the GDC are the initial arbiters of our standards and decide an investigation will run to see if there are any grounds to an allegation, and there is currently the interminable wait for a hearing, then I don’t honestly think I could mentally deal with that kind of pressure for that long with the fear of loosing all that I have put into patient care, this profession, and that of my livelihood and ability to provide for my family. Even if an investigation goes all the way to a hearing, is there any guarantee that there will be an understanding of the pressure we are now practicing daily under from the committee, especially when it is made up of so many lay persons?  Tony Jacobs wrote an excellent blog on this subject.

Some of you will have no doubt read the very eloquent and erudite blog written by Colin Campbell, a very well thought of colleague in my locality and indeed nationally. Colin is one of the most ethical and conscientious practitioners I have ever met. If you haven’t read it then it is a ‘must read’, because Colin is a person who wears his heart on his sleeve and this series of blogs are likely to be a wholly authentic and personal view of how HE felt during the process he went through.

There are many (most of us?) out there that fear the GDC, and not for the correct reasons. We need to respect our regulator, and know that whilst it absolutely MUST act to protect the public, it is not effective ‘right touch’ regulation to do this by ruling the profession with that kind of fear. Using a methodology akin to continuing the beatings until the morale improves is not how it works these days.

Mistakes happen; I was once told right at the beginning of my dental career by an older practitioner the reason he was more experienced than me is because he had made more mistakes than me. Nobody is ever going to excuse the type of mistakes that are so dangerous they have to be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. But if we are to be perpetually living in the fear that one minor transgression will bring the full weight of our regulator down on our backs then that is wrong.

There are also bad people in our profession; nobody is denying that, and I will certainly make no excuses for them. But the climate of fear that pervades the profession at the moment is no way to prevent mistakes from happening, and it certainly wont do ANYTHING to stop that minority who are out to damage people because  they probably don’t have the emotional or ethical values to allow them to feel the fear those of us that practice ethically and responsibly (and fearfully) do.

So at the moment I remain scared. But I will still be submitting evidence to the Select Committee because I cannot, and will not be made to feel this way for the rest of my practicing career. We care for patients every day, but we also have to care about our future health for the sake of our families. After all, we too are human, just like the public the GDC must protect.

We have to stand up to the GDC and now show them the true and high calibre of the vast majority of Dental Professionals.

Blog image Edvard Munch [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 

A "Daily Clarion" call for Clarity

What ever happened to January being a dead month when we hunker down to pay all our Christmas credit card bills?  The CQC close a Salisbury practice facility [albeit for a month only]. [1]  The GDC’s CEO has written a feisty fob off letter to the BDA [2], revelling in the end of year report she produced .[3]

But the real January action comes from two directions.

What? Which? Again?

The Consumer organisation, Which? Have published a report on the lack of clarity of dental fees. The link [4]  below will allow you to read this.  Indeed follow the page and you will find many leading colleagues at Oasis and BUPA all shouting loudly in favour of clarity of fees [5].  Indeed across the profession, and for sure on GDPUK, there is agreement that charging a fair fee is not the problem, it’s about letting the patient know in advance and giving the patient a proper chance to consider the fee and their decision.

“Clean Up Dental Costs” is the clarion cry from Which?. They already have quite active assistance with understanding dental costs at [6] and [7]. 

A Mixed Game

Of course the problem seems in part to lie in that murky area of practice, where some treatment is NHS funded and some is not. Mixed practice, in which the sliding scale of gaming can be applied.

“If the patient pushes, I can do it under the Nash, but if they don’t object I will whack in a proper fee because they don’t REALLY need it …”

Which? state in their campaign “Mission Statement that

We're calling on NHS England and regulators to make sure all dentists comply with existing rules and make information on prices clearly available. Dentists need to explain the treatment options properly and make sure patients know whether or not their treatment is available on the NHS.

Here is my challenge:

How can dentists be expected to explain how much or what treatment is available under the NHS consistently across the country when NHS Choices states that “all treatment that is deemed necessary“ is wholly available and yet it is the soon to be ex-Chief Dental Officer himself  who has repeated that this decision of need is down to the individual dentist, in front of his or her patient.

Which? demand consistency, while the CDO [He of NHS England] espouses inconsistency.

Patently this cannot go on. Perversely, the Chairman of the GDC, being an OFT man ‘n’all that might be just the ally the profession needs.

As if by magic, albeit with ironic timing, the Department of Health’s long awaited Prototype Contract Document has emerged [8]

Nothing changes – the dentist decides “need”

Crucially, the suggestion is that nothing changes so far as the clarity that Which? and many others want.

The DH State

26. It is particularly important to be clear that nothing in the changes planned is intended to reduce or change the scope of NHS care available to patients. The changes are intended to ensure clinicians are supported to deliver the full range of care appropriate to a patient’s need. As with medical care, the NHS role is to meet clinical needs.

27. There is also no intention to end a patient’s ability to choose, if they wish, to have private treatment alongside their NHS care. As now patients will continue to be able to choose to have NHS care, private care or a mix of the two.

So contrary to what the Which? want,  the DH propose to roll out yet another way of delivering dental care in which the opportunity for mixed practice will remain, but the rules are decided by the treating dentist with his individual patient.

So, not one consistent rule for all to work to but 22,000 odd individual rules and utter confusion for the patient.  And more fodder for angry consumer organisations and patients “who know their rights”,

Is this really the best the DH can come up with?

The GDC are clear in their expectation – and this is COMPULSORY FOR ALL through their Standards for the Dental Team, [9],

PLEASE LOOK AT THAT WORD “PREFER”

1.7.4 If you work in a mixed practice, you must not pressurise patients into having private treatment if it is available to them under the NHS (or equivalent health service) and they would prefer to have it under the NHS (or equivalent health service).

2.3.7 Whenever you provide a treatment plan you must include: • the proposed treatment; • a realistic indication of the cost; • whether the treatment is being provided under the NHS (or equivalent health service) or privately (if mixed, the treatment plan should clearly indicate which elements are being provided under which arrangement).

Clear as Mud?

So the leading UK Consumer organisation are calling for the boundaries and costs of NHS and private dental care to be clear. Dentists and their LDC representatives are calling for the same thing.  The GDC has made it compulsory for there to be clarity, and breach of this clarity demand will result in you visiting London for an FtP day out.

But the DH produce a Prototype Contract that suggest maintaining the present confusion.

Aside from it all beggaring belief, it is also now time for our Regulator to earn their spurs and take on the DH.

Calling Mr Moyes, calling Mr Moyes

It is time for the GDC to lay down to the DH in one hopes clear terms that lack of clarity for dentists and patients as to what is on offer under the NHS simply is not acceptable.  It is no use asking the GDPC to achieve this for the DH simply bounce them.

This needs a man of words, in a position of influence, perhaps ideally with Consumer based experience,  to deliver a Clarion Call for Clarity on what the NHS expect dentists to do, not for the dentists, but for the patients, whose very protection the GDC under your Chairmanship is charged with.

Come on down, Mr Moyes – time to play Dental Regulation for real.

Your time has come.

LINKS – THE NEWS

1 http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/11739251.NHS_suspends_dental_practice_following_inspection/

2 https://www.gdpuk.com/news/latest-news/1812-gdc-remains-defiant-over-jr

3 http://www.gdc-uk.org/Aboutus/Documents/FTP%20Improvements-Dec2014-MA-FINAL.pdf

LINKS – WHICH? CAMPAIGN

4 http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/dental-treatment-costs/

5  http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/dental-treatment-costs/2015-01-19-Dentists-respond-to-Clean-Up-Dental-Costs/

6 http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/bathroom-and-personal-care/guides/get-the-best-from-your-dentist/private-and-nhs-dental-charges/

7 http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/bathroom-and-personal-care/guides/get-the-best-from-your-dentist/dental-treatment-checklist/

LINKS – DH DOCUMENTS RE PROTOTYPES

8 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/395384/Reform_Document.pdf

9 http://www.gdc-uk.org/Newsandpublications/Publications/Publications/Standards%20for%20the%20Dental%20Team.pdf

Will there ever come a time in the dental profession when solidarity will create meaningful change?

Recently some bus drivers in London realized that some drivers were getting paid more than others, so they called a 24 hour strike last week, with less than a days notice.  Around 2.3 billion bus journeys are made in the capital in a year and on that day millions of people were affected as they were forced to use alternative transport. Clearly the knock on effect means that the underground and road traffic becomes clogged up. Cab drivers drove the capital to a halt when they realized that a US competitor was taking their lunch.

What is always clear when the press covers these stories is that the system itself is identified as the fault, not the actual providers of the service. Striking workers comes as no surprise for most of us. whereas health professionals standing up for their rights seems to be rare. It is unlikely the bus drivers that were getting above average pay would be so keen to raise the alarm. Akin to those contract holders with UDA values well above national averages.

In truth, the announcement of “evolution not revolution” by Earl Howe with the imminent roll out of the prototype contract scheduled over the next 3 years will mean it’s a long wait for those unhappy NHS contract holders. Indeed has anything really changed in the last 9 years ? Limited exposure from an ever-hostile press rarely highlights the disparate and confusion of what is literally affecting the vast majority of hard working and ethical health professionals every working day.

The cynic in me would say this is classic posturing from the commissioner of the service. After all “If the profession hasn’t responded firmly in the past, it is unlikely to do so in the future”.

When the doctors went on strike in 2012 , the press did not make out it was money focused doctors at fault rather a change in their pension structure at the core of the story.

If history teaches us anything about the department of Health then we know that it's going to a lot longer than planned to see real tangible change in the dental contract, which is intended to remain in place for 20-30 years.

The pricing transparency issue unveiled by a Which consumer review makes it even easier to point the finger at the “ money focused” dentist. What is left for the profession? How can we take real action to illustrate what causes the problem and that hard working NHS dentists cannot continue like this for years to come? (?)

Consider the facts for a moment

-       No increase in NHS dentistry budget planned for the next 5 years

-       Marked decrease in patient access across every existing pilot site ( speak to any pilot site and ask them how long their patients are waiting for an appointment)

-       Hygienists and less so therapists will take an increasingly larger role in prevention and health assessments 5 years from now.

So the question of solidarity, can it actually happen in dentistry? I sadly suspect not. Perhaps because every NHS contract holder has too much to loose if they were held to account. Perhaps successive governments only take real notice about dentistry when the press shows the long lines outside a new NHS dental practice opening up. Perhaps its fear of persecution in the press, or genuine concern for our patients well being and we are not prepared to leave our patient in the lurch? So maybe its time for dentistry to take stock and unite to take its part in controlling its destiny?

If not, the finger of blame will continue to point at the dentists who appear to be the bad guys.

We launched http://www.toothpick.com in 2013 with a clear objective. Make dentistry more consumer friendly for patients and provide an efficient way of building a patient list.

Having travelled and experienced different dental remuneration models around the globe I became acutely aware how different patients perceive dentistry. I suspect the combination here of the press portrayal and the rising patient expectation under a limited system has created a terrible reputation for the profession.

Its hard here as the NHS patient journey is far too short to form a positive opinion and a hostile press that is ready to dentist bash it becomes a downward spiral unless urgent action is taken from within to reverse this effect.

If it’s another rehash of the broken and failing system rather than a workable new contract formed then perhaps the new prototype signals the beginning of the end. Or could this be the trigger to start real action to identify the cause of the problem and have real inclusive dialogue for a solution that gives that gives a fair deal for the patients and the providers.

I feel only with this approach can we restore the professions reputation and trust with the public and the press, which takes years to build and seconds to destroy.

Sandeep Senghera

Image credit - Sludge Gulper   under CC licence - not modified.

Dr Sandeep Senghera BDS, CEO and Founder Toothpick   Sandeep combines his 12 years of experience and knowledge as a Dentist since 2002 with a passion for internet technology to create www.toothpick.com to help patients book a dentist online at over 3500 NHS and Private dentists in the UK. Drawing from a family heritage in business and start ups, his entrepreneurial nature and desire to improve patient experiences in Dentistry drives his business.

Geneva, 19 January 2015 – As World Oral Health Day (WOHD) 2015 approaches, FDI World Dental Federation is advising people to consider the impact of frequent sugar consumption on their ‘Smile for Life’.

Dental caries is the most common non-communicable disease in the world. Research has demonstrated that sugars are the main cause of tooth decay (holes in your teeth).

When you eat or drink something sugary, the bacteria in the plaque (the sticky film that keeps forming on your teeth) feeds on the sugar and releases acid that attacks teeth for about one hour. Frequent consumption of sugar allows prolonged acid ‘attacks’, weakening the protective outer layer of the teeth.

Speaking about this process, Dr Jaime Edelson, Chair of the FDI World Oral Health Day Task team, commented: ‘Sugar reacts with bacteria in the mouth, which together form an acid that damages the enamel. When this keeps happening, a hole is formed in the tooth, which then requires filling and may over time lead to an extraction. By paying close attention to how often we are consuming sugary foods and drinks, the number of acid attacks on our teeth can be reduced.’

WOHD is an opportunity for FDI to draw attention to proven oral care behaviours that people can adopt to protect their teeth –for life. These include brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, cutting down consumption of sugary¹ foods and drinks between meals and chewing sugar-free gum after meals and snacks when on-the-go and brushing is not feasible.

FDI President Dr Tin Chun Wong commented: ‘World Oral Health Day 2015, “Smile for life!” and has a double meaning - lifelong smile and celebrating life. Smiling implies self-confidence and having fun, as people only smile if they are happy and have a healthy life. Please take the time to consider your oral health and bring a smile to everyone around you.’

FDI supports the World Health Organization’s guidelines on reducing sugar consumption, based on evidence of its association with dental caries and obesity.

WOHD is celebrated throughout the world on 20 March each year with a wide range of awareness-raising activities organized by dentists, dental students and National Dental Associations (NDAs).

About FDI

FDI World Dental Federation serves as the principal representative body for more than 1 million dentists worldwide, developing health policy and continuing education programmes, speaking as a unified voice for dentistry in international advocacy, and supporting member associations in global oral health promotion activities. FDI is in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and is a member of the World Health Professionals Alliance (WHPA).

For more information, visit: www.fdiworldental.org

About World Oral Health Day

World Oral Health Day is celebrated every year on 20th March. The theme of World Oral Health Day 2015 is ‘Smile for life’. It reflects the major contribution oral health makes to our lives. Around the world, FDI member dental associations, schools, companies and other groups will celebrate the day with events organized under this single, unifying and simple message.

For more information, visit: www.worldoralhealthday.org

Its becoming very apparent that there is a distinct lack of transparency where some practitioners are concerned with regard to what is and isn’t available on the NHS. This has been going on from the beginning of the new contract, and has caused much heated discussion over the years.

When you consider that not even the CDO was prepared to give an actual list of NHS treatments, instead relying on the ‘All that is Clinical Necessary’ definition that is deliberately intended to obfuscate, then it isn’t really surprising there are almost as many different interpretations as there seem to be contract holders.

We can argue amongst ourselves as to when something should be, or can be provided on the NHS, but the end consumer, the Patient, is stuck in the middle of this unsatisfactory situation, and that should be our prime concern.

The GDC are now starting the come down on those practitioners who they feel have been misleading, or even dishonest in their definition of what is available, and since the balance of probability legal test is used, the weight of evidence does not have to be as high as a criminal issue to find a practitioner guilty, and then suffer the consequences.

However, until recently, the difference of opinions as to what is legitimate and what is ‘gaming’ has largely been discussed only within the dental profession itself. This is NOT intended to be a blog about what gaming is; it’s sufficient to say though that we have to acknowledge it exists within the profession.

This week, Which? have now waded into the argument, with a campaign to ‘Clean Up Dental Costs’

It would appear that they have found this distinct lack of transparency in the pricing of dental care, and in particular the differences between private and NHS care. Not only that, they appear to have also found that about a quarter of those surveyed were unsure of the differences between NHS and Private.

More worryingly, 40% of respondents were unaware that all treatment that was clinical necessary was available on the NHS. This lack of awareness plays right into the hands of those practitioners who have been guilty of perhaps ‘massaging’ the NHS contract to their benefit and not that of the patient. One question it asks is who is responsible for the overall education of the general public as to what is available to them; it is accepted that expert opinion and advice is needed when the general public seek the aid of a professional, so they can perhaps not be held completely responsible for not knowing the ins and outs of dental treatment. On the other hand though, is ‘All that is Clinically Necessary’ too difficult a concept for the Government via NHS England to convey to the populus in some way? The lack of this clarity has lead to varying degrees of confusion, alternative interpretations of the contract (not tested in law to my knowledge) and downright dishonestly and misleading behaviour at the expense of the patients.

Whenever gaming rears it head in discussions on this and any other forum it polarizes opinion hugely, and usually ends up in a slanging match of NHS vs Private. As I’ve said this is not the aim of this blog, but merely to get people to think about the consequences of what we in the profession have begun to create for ourselves and our patients.

It’s one of the huge elephants in the room in our profession at the moment.

There is no doubt that gaming is rife amongst some practitioners. Not all of them, but I would wager that there will be a fair number of mixed practices that are operating at the very edge of what is actually the correct definition of ‘Clinically Necessary’ throughout the country. The fact this aspect of the contract has not been tested in law is probably somewhat fortuitous for all concerned.

Of these practices, I think there will probably be some of them actually deliberately seeking to maximize their financial advantages over those of the patient. This is in direct breach of the GDC standards relating to putting a professional’s needs over that of the patient. It wont be an excuse to use ignorance of the rules of the contract to defend this either, or the continued financial survival of a practice. The continued ignorance of the patients in knowing what is and isn’t available themselves, and the plausibility of the explanations given (‘its isn’t available on the NHS’ is a difficult phrase to argue against for a majority of patients) mean it is simple for some practitioners to pull the wool over the eyes of the public.

If we want to take a stance against the way the GDC is acting at the moment, but there is sufficient evidence that some practitioners are being more ‘flexible’ with the interpretation of clinically necessary, then we can hardly take the moral high ground against them, as individuals are misleading the public the GDC are tasked to protect. How can we protest at that? When we have a Chairman of the GDC who has a background in the Office of Fair Trading it is not beyond the bounds of thought that his wish to broaden his remit has the tacit approval of the powers that be, and will include any future tests of NHS vs Private provision. Incidentally, Which? are not calling on the profession to clean up their act; they’re calling on our regulator and NHS England to do it for us.

In addition, if the Big Lie is to be exposed in all its glory, we as a profession can’t then be seen to be obscuring the failure of the contract by blurring the treatments that patients are receiving on the NHS and Privately. By misleading patients as to what is and isn’t available, to the benefit of the practitioner, is never going to expose the lack of funding inherent in the system.

Lack of transparency of fees has always seemed to be a problem with our profession. The artificially low NHS prices when compared with private means a significant number of the population have no understanding of the real costs of dentistry, and I think we really as a profession don’t go far enough to explain this to the public. Couple that with the confusion now as to what is and what isn’t available on the NHS then it is no wonder Which? have waded into the fray on the side of the consumer.

I personally don’t think it will be long before some form of disclosure along the lines of that seen by Independent Financial Advisors will be compulsory. With the GDC being final arbiters of our professional conduct, any lack of transparency in financial issues are already taken as being as serious as those of clinical errors. We will therefore reap what we sow where it come to financial misdemeanours.

We are in an ever increasingly consumer driven society, and we have to get our house in order if we are to retain the professional status we think we deserve. If we don’t, then we only have ourselves to blame for what is then enforced on the profession in the future. We can resist consumerism and try to hang on to the last bastions of professionalism, but if some of our profession are less open with their dealings with those consumers, then we will all pay the price.

The consequences of gaming are coming home to roost whether we like it or not.

1. Royal College of Surgeons report January 2015
2. Daily Telegraph letter 2014
3. Daily Telegraph letter 2015
4. Mintel market insight reports

Image acknowledgement

Running to Paradise Garden
by Nicolas Alejandro
https://www.facebook.com/nicolas.alejandro.ph  Shown under Creative Commons licence

Patient Plan Direct is proud to be hosting a free evening seminar for Dentists and Practice Managers with drinks and canapés, held at the impressive and prestigious Drummonds Bank in central London on 19^th February 2015.

The seminar, kindly sponsored by Natwest, provides the opportunity to listen in to expert advice on some of 2015’s hottest topics in the world of dentistry, developing the skills of practice management and staying ahead of the game, whilst providing the opportunity to network with like-minded professionals.

The seminar has limited places, so book early to avoid disappointment. Regardless of the type of practice you work in or the stage of your career, there is something for everyone at this must attend seminar.

For more details and to book your place visit this page.

Topics to be covered include; Patients views on Dentists using Email and Social Media Marketing, Converting a telephone enquiry with 3 simple questions, How your accountant should tailor services to you and your needs, Why 80% of incorporations which have been carried out to date are flawed, and so much more.

All speakers are experts in their respective fields with years of experience specifically within the dental industry; Tracy Stuart (NBS Training), Bernard Danquah (Patient Plan Direct), Rob Walsh & Dee Gerrish (Clear Vision Dental Accountants), and John Grant (Goodman Grant Dental Solicitors). 

We all use euphemisms for many different reasons. We may choose to simplify our language when talking to adults, so that we don’t come across as arrogant and full of technological jargon, or when talking to children to not appear too scientific and intimidating. We therefore use euphemistic language that our patients are more likely to understand as a way of overcoming communication barriers.

Euphemisms are also used within the industry to put a positive shine or spin on something. You may be familiar with the term ‘technique sensitive’. When we first began using composites for instance, we were told by the manufacturers that these materials were very good, but ‘technique sensitive’. What this implied was that if not used exactly as instructed, the material was likely to fail and it would be the dentist’s fault.

‘Technique sensitive’ can therefore be seen as an excuse that shifts the blame to the practitioner rather than the product. It is a euphemism that glosses over the fact that the materials didn't always do the job they were meant to do.

These examples begin to highlight the use of euphemisms from two distinct perspectives. Firstly as a way of communicating and being kind to our patients, limiting anxiety and stress; and secondly highlighting how poor or insufficient our materials and treatments can be.

The major use of euphemisms in dentistry covers both of these viewpoints and significantly relates to discussions of pain. 9 times out of 10 this is in reference to injections.

We rarely say to our patients ‘I’m now going to give you an injection”, instead we’re more likely to say, “I’m just going to numb you up”, or “you’re going to feel a little pinch”, and this is really a way of avoiding the truth. What we need to say is “this will hurt”; but we don't want to induce fear.

Ideally we should be using injections that don’t sting, or rather anaesthetics without the needle. Some kinder ways of providing anaesthetics to patients do exist, but these still tend to be needle techniques, and there are also some needle-free options, but these are by no means perfected. Ultimately it seems that we are in the dark ages with our local anaesthetics and still thrusting surgical steel through human tissue.

Naturally for our patients dentistry can be particularly unpleasant, and our job should be to negate this as much as possible. So we avoid the words ‘pain’, ‘injection’ and ‘discomfort’, and we gloss over them with our euphemisms. The problem is that we shouldn‘t have to do this. We shouldn’t need to gloss over such aspects; we should be striving to improve them.

The point of a euphemism is to make people less fearful or anxious, or to replace the offensive terms making things seem innocuous, but really what it does is mark our failure to do better. We are all too happy to hide behind these euphemisms, but at the end of the day all this does is gloss over the fact that we are doing something unpleasant, and our research should be geared towards not having to come out with a euphemism, and being able to tell the truth when we say, “this wont hurt a bit”.

For further information please call EndoCare on 020 7224 0999

Or visit www.endocare.co.uk

Dr Michael Sultan BDS MSc DFO FICD is a Specialist in Endodontics and the Clinical Director of EndoCare. Michael qualified at Bristol University in 1986. He worked as a general dental practitioner for 5 years before commencing specialist studies at Guy’s hospital, London. He completed his MSc in Endodontics in 1993 and worked as an in-house Endodontist in various practices before setting up in Harley St, London in 2000. He was admitted onto the specialist register in Endodontics in 1999 and has lectured extensively to postgraduate dental groups as well as lecturing on Endodontic courses at Eastman CPD, University of London. He has been involved with numerous dental groups

Illegal whitening continues to remain a serious problem for the dental profession and uneducated public.

Many home whitening kits or those offered by beauty salons do not contain enough whitening product to be effective, or if they do, the mouthguard provided is typically a bad fit, therefore some of the bleaching gel is likely to leak out onto the gums and mouth causing blistering and sensitivity[i].

Not only can teeth whitening carried out by non-dental professionals carry oral health risks for patients, it is also highly illegal. The General Dental Council (GDC) is continually bringing forward new cases for prosecution, including company directors, beauticians and other non-registered people unlawfully practicing dentistry in the form of tooth whitening[ii]. The charges related to illegal tooth whitening are increasing; in a recent case the offender was fined fifteen thousand pounds for breaking the law.

But is enough being done? A company scandal has highlighted loopholes in the law that make it possible for companies to sell teeth whitening training courses and products to non-dentists. The defendant was found guilty and ordered to pay the plaintiff back for the licence to provide teeth whitening under the pretence of not having to be a dentist to carry out the treatment. However, in a statement, Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, was quoted as saying: “It is embarrassing that it has taken an individual to do what the GDC is failing to do and protect the public. The regulatory body should be far more robust in their investigation process and protect the public from illegal tooth whiteners[iii].”

Regardless of the laws and regulations, certain companies continue to misinterpret the system and maintain that since the products used for tooth whitening are covered by the European Council Directive on Cosmetic Products 2011/84 EU, their agents are carrying out a cosmetic procedure and not practicing dentistry[iv].

The EU regulations clearly state that products containing or releasing between 0.1%-6% HP should not be made directly available to the consumer, other than through treatment by a registered dentist, or a dental hygienist, dental therapist or clinical dental technician working to a dentist’s prescription⁴. It is also illegal to for anyone who is not a dentist to give “treatment, advice or attendance” that would usually be given by a dentist⁴.

Educating patients on how to achieve safe and effective tooth whitening by dental professionals remains essential. Offering top quality whitening products in your practice can also help to reduce illegal tooth whitening and keep patients protected. Sparkle Dental Labs now offers Professional Tooth Whitening Kits that are safe, reliable and affordable. The custom-made whitening trays are made directly by Sparkle Dental Labs so there is no need for you to keep excess stock, and with UK manufacturing every product is traceable and of an outstanding quality.

Only time will tell if the GDC will start taking firmer action on those continuing to commit criminal offences, however in the meantime educating the public remains crucial. Working with a top quality dental lab to offer effective treatment in your practice can also reduce illegal tooth whitening and keep patients safe.

For more details about Sparkle Dental Labs, please call 0800 138 6255, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit:

www.sparkledentallabs.com

Meeting the various laws that regulate employment processes and human resources can be a challenge for any employer. Implementation of the proper legal protocols and pathways is however essential to ensure not only the satisfaction and safety of employees, but to also protect the business from unforeseen problems regarding staff.

Sarah Buxton is an Associate Lawyer at LCF Law, specialising in employment and HR issues within the dental industry. She advises on everything from associate contracts to managing self-employed staff, handbooks and settling employment disputes. She will be presenting as part of the Dental Business Theatre at The Dentistry Show 2015, which she has visited now for several years.

“I have attended The Dentistry Show every year for about the last 5 years,” Sarah says. “It is a great event for dental practitioners and professionals who work in the dental industry to get together and learn about the recent developments in the market. The Dentistry Show also always sources the best speakers in their respective fields to ensure that the attendees receive the best advice.”

Sarah will be delivering a session entitled “Getting to Grips with Dental Employment & HR Law”, providing information and clarification on a number of issues facing modern practice owners and managers.

“I will discuss the difference between self-employed workers and employees, and why it is important to have the correct contracts in place for the different types of employment status. I’ll demonstrate what should be included in the contracts to enable delegates to run their businesses smoothly and to protect the goodwill of the practice.

“In addition, I’ll look at how to deal with common problems that arise in the workplace such as sickness absence, lateness and flexible working requests. With the recent changes in Shared Parental Leave, this will also be a topic affecting employers, which I hope to cover.”

With clinical excellence and patient care clearly remaining a priority for practice principals and managers, it can be difficult to find time for all the paperwork now necessitated in dentistry. An already complicated area of business, HR regulations can therefore often require some specialist support.

Sarah adds:

“HR and Employment Law is constantly changing and it is difficult for practice owners/managers to keep on top of all the changes whilst running their practice. There are so many laws and regulations in this area that employment contracts and HR is often a full time job in itself. There is a lot of red tape in the dental industry – employment, health and safety, CQC, GDC regulations – it can all be very overwhelming for busy practitioners, so it is important to have all the relevant information accessible.

“I hope delegates attending my session at The Dentistry Show will gain a better awareness and understanding of the need for effective HR and Employment Systems, in order to have a well-run practice which is profitable and a happy place to work for all.”

To make sure you have all the information you need to run an efficient and lawful business, make sure you don’t miss Sarah’s session at The Dentistry Show 2015. She will be speaking alongside several other leading names in business including Sheila Scott, Tracy Stuart and Nigel Reece, each sharing their own personal expertise and experiences to help you enhance the way your practice is run.

For this, plus hours of vCPD, hands-on clinical workshops, live surgery demonstrations, access to the very products and copious networking and socialising opportunities, book your place for The Dentistry Show 2015 today.

The Dentistry Show 2015 and DTS will be held on 17^th and 18^th April at the NEC in Birmingham. For further details please visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk, call 020 7348 5269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Geneva, 17 December 2014 - As World Oral Health Day (WOHD) 2015 approaches, FDI World Dental Federation wants people to make a healthy New Year’s resolution and reduce their use of tobacco – or give it up completely - as part of the 2015 World Oral Health Day ‘Smile for life’ campaign.

There are many types of tobacco available worldwide, including manufactured cigarettes, roll-your own cigarettes, snuff and chewing tobacco, and all are addictive and detrimental to health. The use of tobacco can significantly increase the risk of many serious oral health problems, including:

•         Oral cancer

•         Gum disease

•         Premature tooth loss

•         Tooth discolouration

•         Bad breath

•         Reduced ability to taste and smell

Oral cancer is amongst the most prevalent cancers worldwide and incidence rates are higher in men than women[1]. The use of tobacco, including smokeless tobacco and excessive consumption of alcohol, are the key risk factors in oral cancer and together are estimated to account for 90% of oral cancers worldwide. This percentage could be significantly lowered through a reduction in the use of tobacco and alcohol intake[2].

Speaking about the severe risks of tobacco use, Dr Patrick Hescot, FDI President-Elect, said: “To help tackle the increased risk of oral cancer, tooth loss and antisocial effects such as bad breath, it's time to reduce or, ideally, give up tobacco use. Tobacco use in all forms is dangerous for health and oral health; what better reason could you have for giving up tobacco as a New Year’s resolution?”

The FDI would also like to encourage health professionals to participate in tobacco prevention activities. Dentists and their teams can help communicate important messages to patients about the threats posed by tobacco use and help them to identify the key risk factors and the early signs of oral cancer, as well as gum disease and other oral health problems, in their early stages. Patients may not always recognise early symptoms, so the FDI and its partners encourage people of all ages to schedule regular check-ups with their dentists.

Dr Tin Chun Wong, FDI President, said: “Prevention is key and most common oral diseases, including those linked to tobacco use, are largely preventable. Alongside personal effort, oral healthcare providers can play a role in promoting healthy lifestyles by incorporating tobacco cessation programmes into their practices. This January, it’s time to give up smoking and have something new to smile about.”

About FDI

FDI World Dental Federation serves as the principal representative body for more than 1 million dentists worldwide, developing health policy and continuing education programmes, speaking as a unified voice for dentistry in international advocacy, and supporting member associations in global oral health promotion activities. FDI is in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and is a member of the World Health Professionals Alliance (WHPA).

For more information, visit: www.fdiworldental.org

About World Oral Health Day

World Oral Health Day is celebrated every year on 20th March. The theme of World Oral Health Day 2015 is ‘Smile for life’. It reflects the major contribution oral health makes to our lives. Around the world, FDI member dental associations, schools, companies and other groups will celebrate the day with events organised under this single, unifying and simple message.

For more information, visit: www.worldoralhealthday.org

World Oral Health Day 2015 partners

LISTERINE® brand Mouthwash, part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies

As the world’s number one daily mouth rinse, LISTERINE® Mouthwash has been used by more than one billion people in more than 85 countries. Professional dental organizations around the world have awarded LISTERINE® Mouthwash with their seals of acceptance.

LISTERINE® is distributed by Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., a part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies, which is the world’s sixth-largest consumer health company and is a segment of Johnson & Johnson, the world’s most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products.

Unilever 

Unilever is a leading global manufacturer of oral care products, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash, represented by brands including Signal, Pepsodent, Mentadent, Aim, P/S, Zhong Hua and Close Up. Unilever believes that good oral health is a vital element for people to look good, feel good and get more out of life and uses its oral care brands to encourage children and their parents to brush in the morning and at night using fluoride toothpaste. Through its science, products, partnerships and international network, Unilever is privileged with the power to make a sustainable and measurable improvement to oral health around the world.

Henry Schein

Henry Schein, Inc. is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners.  A Fortune 500®[3] Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100®[4] Index (NASDAQ Ticker: HSIC), Henry Schein employs more than 17,000 Team Schein Members and serves more than 800,000 customers. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 28 countries.  Through Henry Schein Cares, the Company’s global corporate social responsibility program, Henry Schein helps expand access to health care for underserved and at-risk communities around the world. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program (WOHP)

WOHP partners with dental professionals worldwide, helping them improve their patients’ oral health through one extra simple and enjoyable step in their daily routine: chewing sugar-free gum after eating and drinking on-the-go. WOHP supports independent clinical research into the benefits of chewing gum, including saliva stimulation, plaque acid neutralization and tooth strengthening. For more information, visit: www.wrigleyoralcare.com

You are invited to the Botox Training Club at www.botoxtrainingclub.co.uk, following its recent launch.

Created by aesthetician and dentist Dr Harry Singh, the Botox Training Club offers dentists the opportunity to attend accredited clinical workshops. In addition, one free team member is allowed to attend per delegate as an observer, to help further your pursuit of facial aesthetics success.

Worth 6.5 hours of verifiable CPD, delegates can expect to learn how to treat the three areas most commonly requested by patients – the forehead (frontalis), frown lines (glabellar) and eyes (lateral canthal lines).

Offering support before, during and after the workshop, you can be sure that everything will be in place to allow you to concentrate on treating facial aesthetic patients.

For further information on the Botox Training Club and to download the video ‘Getting Started In Facial Aesthetics’ free of charge, please visit www.botoxtrainingclub.co.uk. Alternatively, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 07711 731173.

Personal Liberalism:

Political Liberalism: 

Economic Liberalism:

Social Liberalism: 

With 2014 coming to an end it’s a great time to assess where you are in terms of your business goals. Analysing your productivity, profitability and cost efficiency is vital if you want to succeed in the year to come.

Productivity

One of the first areas to look at is your productivity. This time of year provides the perfect opportunity to conduct staff appraisals, which will allow you to assess where any weak links may lie but to also understand the aspirations of each individual. You may have a member of staff who would like to expand their skills to reach a higher level of job satisfaction. By talking to individuals you will be able to work together to find the perfect balance of skill mix that works well for your team but also for your practice moving forward. This may involve an initial outlay through paying for courses but in the long term you will reap the rewards that come from having a well-trained team who appreciate your investment in them and will repay you through loyalty.

Profitability

Understanding your finances is the key to pushing your business forward in the year to come. Without a detailed understanding of your profits and losses, you cannot start contemplating whether to spend on staff training or promotions. You need to know where your business is financially before you begin the appraisal process, this will give you a benchmark for pay rises and bonuses as well as other costs that may need consideration.

Cost efficiency

Productivity is not solely dependent on people, the surroundings also come into play. For example, if your workspace doesn’t have the right flow it can have a negative impact on your staff and patients. The set up of the practice is vital, if it isn’t quite right it can make working practices clumsy and awkward and will affect the efficiency of your work. Aesthetics should also be considered, too. Does your surgery impress throughout? Spending money on new furniture and cabinetry may feel excessive but balancing the initial outlay with the benefits of an efficient workflow and a beautiful practice that patients and staff will appreciate, can be a clever move for a long-term investment.

Tavom UK has supplied dental cabinets and medical furniture to the medical and dental industry for more than 35 years and has extensive experience in dental surgery design. The company understands the dental profession and provides beautiful and functional workspaces using high quality products.

The time is right to take stock of your positioning, in terms of finances and business aims, in order to ensure you’re on the right track towards reaching your goals. Investing in key areas of your business now can help you push forward and achieve success in the year ahead.

To see how Tavom UK can transform your dental practice, please call 0870 752 1121 or visit the Tavom UK website www.tavomuk.com