Simplyhealth is pleased to announce it has signed another exciting 50/50 Dental Practice Partnership with Cottage Dental Practice in Ormskirk.

The new partnership between Simplyhealth and Cottage Dental Practice (ormskirkdentist.co.uk) will enable the business based at 58 Moor Street, to further develop, grow and continue to serve its local community.

Closely aligned to Simplyhealth’s purpose of helping people make the most of life through better everyday health, Cottage Dental Practice’s philosophy is to prevent dental problems before they occur, thanks to their team of experienced dentists, hygienists, nurses, and surgeons who are dedicated to helping their patients achieve the best possible dental health. They already have strong relationships with their patients, of whom 2400 are already covered by a Denplan payment plan from Simplyhealth Professionals, providing the additional peace of mind of budgeting for their dental treatments.

As part of an ongoing commitment to investment and innovation in the dental market, Simplyhealth’s partnership scheme offers dental practices the opportunity to enter into an equal partnership that plays to the strengths of both parties for their mutual benefit.

The partnership model has been designed to enable dentists to retain day to day clinical management and continue the focus on the quality of care provided with Simplyhealth providing support and expertise in business services, development and patient insights gained from their existing successful Denplan services as well as through helping over 3 million people with their everyday health needs across the group.

The model works well for Practice owners looking for a smooth transition into retirement while wanting to retain responsibility for the day to day decisions and clinical delivery.  They can retain the legacy they have built in the community but are able to realise the value of the practice and make the move into ownership less of a barrier for the new partner.

Raman Sankaran, Chief Commercial Officer of Simplyhealth added: “We’re very pleased to have signed our partnership agreement with Cottage Dental Practice in Ormskirk. They are very much aligned to our purpose of helping people make the most of life through better everyday health and we’re both focussed on helping people achieve this thanks to preventative dental care. We’re looking forward to working with Dr Sunny Lathar and Dr Helen Barlow, supporting them with their strategy so they can provide their patients with the best care possible. True partnerships like this mean we can combine the best of our skills and experience, so more patients can lead happier, healthier lives thanks to better everyday health.”

Principle dentists at Cottage Dental Practice, Dr Sunny Lathar and Dr Helen Barlow explain: "We’re delighted that we’ve entered into this new partnership with Simplyhealth Professionals. After 30 years of practicing dentistry, this new partnership allows us to have in place a structured strategy for the medium to long term, while allowing us to maintain the management and direction of the Practice with the additional support and guidance of Simplyhealth. "

About Simplyhealth
In the world of healthcare, more than anywhere, experience counts. Since 1872 – long before the existence of the NHS – Simplyhealth has been helping people to make the most of life, by managing their everyday health needs.  That’s why today we ensure over 3 million people in the UK have access to the health products, services and support that they need, when they need them and at a price they can afford.

We’re the kind of people who live by our purpose: we’re here to help people make the most of life through better everyday health. We’re proud to be the leading provider of everyday health cash plans, dental payment and pet health plans. And whilst we may be 144 years old, we’re not afraid to innovate. Whereas once we were known purely for cash plans, we now offer a wide range of products and services with one thing in common: an unflinching desire to cater for people’s everyday health needs – now and into the future.

We exist to help people make the most of life through better everyday health. That’s our purpose. We use charitable partnerships to also deliver that purpose, going beyond our products and services, but very much aligned to our business strategy. As a result of our success, in 2016 we were able to donate £1.6m to our charitable causes, supporting 23 different charities including Revitalise, Music in Hospitals, Brainwave Centre and Auditory Verbal, touching the lives of thousands of people across the UK.

Our future success and performance will enable us to deliver our ongoing pledge to donate 10% of our profits to charity every year, supporting health-related charities that share a similar outlook to ours and a dedication to helping people with everyday health challenges make the most of life.

For further information about Simplyhealth please visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk.

Patient Plan Direct client, Dr Wasif Khan, explains how he took the leap into the world of private dentistry

“Before I bought Holmes Chapel Dental Practice around 10 years ago, I had been working as an associate for several years carrying out private dentistry. I had undertaken extensive post-graduate study and was really enjoying the work I was doing, but I wanted to take the next step in my career to become a practice owner. Holmes Chapel Dental Practice came with an NHS contract and, although this was a very different set up to what I had become used to, I decided to work with it, with a view to adding a private side in the future.

“Over the years my team and I have worked hard to develop the practice, but whilst I was able to maintain a degree of private work, there has always been that longing for me to return fully to private dentistry. With falling revenues and the constant treadmill of UDAs, targets and restrictions that we all face under the NHS, I decided that after 10 years, the time had come to focus on providing a private service. I also wanted to slow down a little while practising better quality, varied dentistry; I needed to push myself to get out of the rut that I felt I was in, and I wanted the same for my team, too.

“We had been building up to make the move towards a more private offering for around two years, so none of it came as a surprise to the team; I wanted to do my research and groundwork first to make sure I would take the right steps to make things work. We decided that my two associates and dental therapist would continue to provide dentistry under the NHS, as well as private work, while I went fully private. The idea was to boost revenue in order to ensure not just staff retention, but also team growth and skill-set development, increased choice of materials and possible expansion and renovation in the future – things that I just could not consider while working on an NHS contract. Additionally, I was really looking forward to getting back to doing the dentistry I love and gaining more fulfilment from my work again.

“I have friends in their own practices who have incorporated a dental plan, and I had seen them in action during my time as an associate, so implementing one into the practice was always my intention. For me, it was vital that the provider I chose to partner with offered lots of support, because I had never carried out an NHS to private conversion as a practice owner and wanted to have the reassurance that there would be help available if I needed it. I met with a few different companies to get a feel for what and who would work best for me and decided to go with Patient Plan Direct as their service is great value for money and I also liked them on a personal level. They are a smaller company and the individuals who work there are very down to earth and easy to get on with. On top of that, I really like their online portal and the fact that I was able to integrate the option of patient plan sign up via my website, too.

“The first step was to write to our patients to let them know about the changes. This is where our main challenge cropped up as I was finding that subsequent take up of the plan was quite slow. Theresa Riley, business development manager from Patient Plan Direct, was a huge help in this area. She came in to the practice and gave our reception team lots of training on how to discuss the plan and give patients options. None of it is about a hard sell, it’s all just about letting people know what is available to them and allowing them to choose what is best for their own needs, which fits perfectly in line with our own business ethos.

“Theresa also took a look at our letter, reworded it to make it more patient friendly and suggested that we add some more plan options to keep the choice more varied for patients, rather than just the one plan we were originally offering. All of her help provided us with the tools and knowledge we needed to make the difference. It took some time to convince and educate some of the staff that this was the only way we could progress the practice, but now all of the team have embraced the methods Theresa discussed during her training and they are all fully on board. This external input from Patient Plan Direct made a huge difference to us, so I definitely feel that I made the right choice when selecting which plan provider to go with, particularly considering Patient Plan Direct’s admin fees are so much lower than other providers ensuring we retain more of our plan income.

“I’m really pleased with how things have worked out. The team is focused and consolidated in our aims and we have also changed the infrastructure within the practice to accommodate private patients in reception and in a separate waiting area, which has created a unique patient pathway. The overall reaction from patients has been very positive, with many commenting that we should have done this years ago! I have no regrets about making the move towards a more private dental offering; I have achieved a much better work-life balance as it has allowed me to cut back on my hours, while still remaining busy during my ‘dental’ days, and my private patient list is ever increasing. I have to put a lot of this success down to incorporating a plan and doing the research into choosing the right provider for me, the support from patient Plan Direct has been second to none!”

Wasif Khan is the principal dentist and owner of Holmes Chapel Dental Practice in Cheshire.

Patient Plan Direct offers a low cost, simple, flexible and practice-branded solution to running patient payment plans, with a focus on delivering first-class support and expert advice to ensure you reach your plan objectives. For more information please visit www.patientplandirect.com email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 0844 848 6888.

Of the total population worldwide, around 20% is edentulous and even more is partially edentulous.¹ The demand for dental implants is increasing and clinicians will be requiring more dental prosthetics faster. If your lab is looking for opportunities to grow, then meeting this need by expanding with the help of digital dentistry could be the answer.

Great expectations

Dentistry continues to develop and labs, small and large, are required to continually meet the high standards expected by practices and patients, as well as by regulatory bodies such as the FDA². It can be challenging to meet regulatory standards, provide esthetic and reliable restorations, and run a profitable a sustainable business. One way of reconciling these demands is by investing in technology and equipment that can provide a competitive advantage and opportunities for growth.

CAD/CAM milling

Transform your lab with dental CAD/CAM

Through the advancement of dental technology, such as computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), the entire process has been transformed, bringing significant benefits to both practices and labs alike. According to recent literature^3,4 these include:

¾    Improving patient acceptance

¾    Reducing distortion of impression materials

¾    Improving data acquisition, management and storage

¾    Helping to standardize procedures

¾    Improving communication between clinicians and labs

¾    Reducing production time and effort

As a result, dental CAD/CAM tools help enhance efficiency, by saving labs time and creating user-friendly workflows. They also enhance quality, as precision-engineered and manufactured components are designed to reduce risks that may lead to implant failure.⁶ Furthermore, the dental CAD/CAM system can be broken down into several distinct phases, with the possibility of moving between digital and analog workflows at several stages⁵, offering flexibility for the user.  

Speed, accuracy, efficiency and consistency can all be enhanced, allowing high-quality dental devices to be routinely fabricated, bringing new solutions to patients. These improvements are not achievable with conventional methods, requiring cutting-edge processing technologies and systems.3

NobelProcera prosthetics range

Getting started with CAD/CAM systems

Investing in dental CAD software can provide labs with a chance to increase production and keep costs competitive. Getting the right software for your business is necessary for a cost-effective, predictable and accurate outcome. By working closely with a reputable software manufacturer you can get the support you need to create esthetic restorations with fast turnaround times.

Nobel Biocare has recently launched in conjunction with Kavo Kerr the new DTX Studio™ software, which will offer powerful CAD tools with an intuitive interface. It will enable the quick and easy design of the desired restoration, whether tooth- or implant based.

Alternatively, you can outsource the design and production of CAD/CAM prosthetics to NobelProcera Scan and Design Services.  Available for implant bars, abutments and implant crowns, you can save time and avoid investment in equipment and staff training, while providing your customers with precision-fit prosthetics.

NobelProcera Scan and Design Services

With the advancement of digital dentistry, more opportunities are becoming available to labs. We are at a point in the evolution of dental restoration provision which could be as fundamental and inevitable as the progression from a typewriter to a computer.⁵

More to explore

¾     Discover CAD/CAM prosthetics for labs

¾     Related article: The dawn of CAD/CAM restorations

¾     Related article: Your lab can become the prosthetic provider of choice

¾     Related article: Taking the dental laboratory into the future

¹ Source: iData Research. Europe Market Report Suite for Dental Implant Fixtures and Final Abutments. 2017, p. 57. More information on www.idataresearch.com .

² For more information: http://nadl.org/sl_files/487CEA77-5056-A04E-37A0DDED9A8D218E.pdf

3 Miyazaki, T., et al. (2009). A review of dental CAD/CAM: current status and future perspectives from 20 years of experience. Dental Materials Journal, 28 (1), 44-56.

4 Hammerle, C. F., et al. (2015). Digital technologies to support planning, treatment, and fabrication processes and outcome assessments in implant dentistry. Summary and consensus statements. The 4^th EAO consensus conference 2015. Clinical Oral Implants Research, 26, 97-101.

5 Slade, C. A. E. (2017). The role of CAD/CAM in modern dentistry. Practical procedures in aesthetic dentistry. Edited by Banerji, S., Mehta, S. B., & Ho, C. C. K. John Wiley & Sons.

⁶ Hurson, Overcoming implant complications – Authentic, integrated dental implant components, Compendium, July/August 2016, Volume 37, Number 7, pages 2–6.

Having only just got over the shock of the Brexit result (just about) and Theresa May’s decision to hold a snap election, the country is once again plunged into uncertainty as the Election Results for 2017 reveal a shocking outcome for the Conservative party. What was meant to be a straightforward win for the current Prime Minister – or so she thought – has instead ended in the humiliation of a hung parliament. As a result of this, Mrs May and the rest of her party face the prospect of having to form a minority government – a far cry from the majority vote and ‘stronger mandate’ she was hoping for.

In comparison, the election has been somewhat of a victory for Jeremy Corbyn and the labour party, who have gained a considerable number of seats across the UK, including Sheffield Hallam which was previously held by the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg.

To form a minority government, Theresa May will require the assistance of the Democratic Unionist Party, who she says will work together having “enjoyed a strong relationship over many years”. Were anything to happen, however, the Tories will not have the 326 seats required for a majority to pass a legislative programme.

Labour, in the meantime, will likely turn their efforts to forming their own minority government. After all, if the Conservative’s plan doesn’t pan out the way they want it to, Jeremy Corbyn could yet become Prime Minister. The question is where does this leave the dental profession?

Before the results were even properly announced we saw a fall in the value of the sterling compared to the dollar and the Euro. Between the uncertainty of a hung parliament and speculation about how the final result will impact Brexit negotiations moving forward, we are once again faced with the prospect of higher imported goods’ prices and an increase in overheads.

As for how dental practices, along with other small businesses will be affected by the whole thing, it is not yet clear what the future holds. What we do know, however, is that if May is successful in forming an alliance with DUP, there will be a number of changes made to taxation throughout 2017 into 2020. Personal Allowance, for instance, would rise to £12,500 as planned, as would the Higher Rate Threshold, which Mrs May has promised would increase to £50,000 by 2020. With scheduled reductions also due to take place to Corporation Tax (CT) if the Tories stay in, it is clear that dentists would have much to gain from a Conservative government. In regards to pensions, dentists must consider how proposed changes would affect their financial planning moving forward.

In the event that Jeremy Corbyn steps in and tries to run a minority government or form a coalition, it could be somewhat of a mixed bag. Indeed, while Labour’s promise to review business rates and bring in a small profits rate of CT for SMEs would no doubt be welcomed by many in the profession, increases in Income Tax for those earning over £80,000 certainly wouldn't be, nor would an increase in CT for larger businesses.

Brexit, in the meantime, is scheduled to go ahead as planned, so the best any of us can do is wait and see what happens!

For more information please call 0845 345 5060 or 0754DENTIST.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.money4dentists.com

Simplyhealth Professionals has announced today its sponsorship of Boundaries for Life and this year’s cricket season. Boundaries for Life is an initiative aimed at promoting health awareness through high-profile cricket events – and is the only free health screening that includes an assessment for mouth cancer.

Founded in 2010 by Dr Chet Trivedy, a dual-qualified dentist and medic with an interest in emergency medicine and dental emergencies, Boundaries for Life offers free health screenings at major cricket fixtures throughout the UK, and is supported by the European Health Stadia Network.

Catherine Rutland, Head of Professional Support Services at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “The Boundaries for Life programme crosses the barriers between oral health and general health. Our support of the programme goes beyond just a financial investment. We are encouraging our member dentists to get actively involved and be part of the dental team at the cricket matches, and play a part in helping people understand the importance of looking after their health.”

With a team comprising dentists, doctors, nurses, medical students and dementia specialists, the free health checks take no more than 15 minutes and are offered to spectators and ground staff. The checks include blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar (diabetes), dental (mouth cancer), obesity and dementia advice.

The team have already attended two cricket matches with the support of member dentists from Simplyhealth Professionals and carried out a number of dental checks. These matches were at Headingly Stadium on 24 May and the Ageas Bowl on 27 May.

Dr Chet Trivedy said: “Using cricket as a vehicle to discuss health is ideal, particularly as our key aim is to target men aged 35 years and over. Our health promotion strategy is to target people who might otherwise not access regular health checks. Many of these are cited by Public Health England to be particularly vulnerable to a range of health conditions; the format and duration of a match makes the health screenings we offer very accessible – without missing the sporting action.”

Since its launch, Boundaries for Life has carried out 2,000 free health checks and diagnosed nine cases of suspected mouth cancer, or pre-cancer, and given many hundreds of cricket fans specialist advice on how to improve oral and personal health.

The current Boundaries for Life fixtures are:

For more information, visit: http://boundariesforlife.co.uk/

Dental

Simplyhealth Professionals is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million patients registered to a Denplan product.

Simplyhealth Professionals provide the following range of leading Denplan dental payment plans under the Denplan name:

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan Membership: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan Hygiene: A dental payment plan without dental insurance for all types of practice from NHS, mixed and private to support patients commit to a consistent hygiene programme.

·         Denplan Emergency Insurance: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only

Simplyhealth Professionals also provide a wide range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme and Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme. Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 169 9962, or patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402.   

“I was looking to develop my knowledge and expand my skills in GDP orthodontics. I also wanted to build my competence and confidence so that I could take on more complex cases and still deliver safe and effective treatment. The IAS Advanced training course enabled me to do this.”

Rahul Kukar from iDental dental practice has embarked upon the IAS Advanced training course, following four years of experience in anterior alignment orthodontics.

“The course has been very good, providing a sound academic foundation from which to extend my skills. The quality of instruction and on-going support provided by IAS Academy has been great as well.

“While the course finishes in a few months, I already feel much more confident in approaching more complex cases and knowing how to recognise cases that still require referral to a specialist.

“My advice for other practitioners would be to gain as much experience as possible with the basic systems, before moving onto the IAS Advanced course, but I would certainly recommend undergoing the training when you’re ready.”

If you have extensive experience in fixed GDP orthodontics and wish to develop your skills further, apply for your place today.

For more information on upcoming IAS Academy training courses, including the IAS Advanced,

please visit www.iasortho.com or call 0845 366 5477

The innovative On1 restorative concept from Nobel Biocare offers practitioners novel treatment options to optimize implant placement and restoration.

Raising the connection for restorative components from bone to tissue level, the On1 Base remains in position from placement to finalization, providing undisturbed soft tissue healing. Furthermore, with two height options available, there is the flexibility to change the On1 Base should the thickness of the soft tissue require it in the short or long-term.

From here, the On1 Healing Cap or On1 Temporary Abutment can be connected to the base. Both support the intraoral scanning approach, which facilitates conventional impression-taking procedures for maximum accuracy and precision.

The On1 concept can be used with three different conical connection implant systems: NobelActive, NobelParallel and NobelReplace, which provides outstanding surgical flexibility and ease of use. For the restorative dentist, the On1 Base allows for an improved patient experience, as well as simplifying the placement of restorative components due to the tissue level base.

Discover today how the On1 concept from Nobel Biocare can help you achieve exceptional results for your patients.

For more information, contact Nobel Biocare on 0208 756 3300, or visit www.nobelbiocare.com

And the winner is…

The Goodman Grant team is delighted to announce that they have recently won at the prestigious Liverpool Law Society Legal Awards.

At a black-tie awards ceremony held at the Rum Warehouse in Liverpool, the Goodman Grant team were awarded the Best Niche Law Firm Award, for their work in the dental sector – a fantastic accolade that demonstrates the commitment Goodman Grant has to providing dentists with expert legal support.

Ray Goodman, joint managing director at Goodman Grant Solicitors, says of the firm’s win: “This award shows the amount of hard work and devotion the Goodman Grant team puts into helping each and every one of our dental clients and it is an honour to have this recognised by the Liverpool Law Society.”

Goodman Grant are renowned for providing a wide range of specialist legal services to the dental profession, from employment contracts and disputes, to CQC applications, due diligence and all aspects of practice sales and acquisition.

To find out more, contact the expert team at Goodman Grant today.

For more information, visit the Goodman Grant website at www.goodmangrant.co.uk or call us on:

Leeds office: 0113 834 3705

London office: 0203 114 2133

Liverpool office: 0151 707 0090

And the award goes to…

Every year the prestigious Dental Awards take place to celebrate the unwavering commitment and achievements of individuals, teams and companies within the dental profession.

At this year’s event, which was well attended by some of the profession’s leading lights, Dental Elite had the pleasure of sponsoring two Awards: Practice Manager of the Year and Dental Practice of the Year South. The Awards were presented by Recruitment Manager, Luke Arnold.

As always, the level of talent of the nominees was exceptionally high, which for winners Hannah Haines, Practice Manager of Inspired Dental and Reginald O’Neill Dental Care (Practice of the Year for the South) made victory even sweeter. The team is proud to have been part of such a distinguished occasion.

Dental Elite would also like to congratulate Edd Jones from Hartley Dental Practice and The Care Dental Centre in London for coming highly commended in their respective categories.

Dedicated to supporting the profession wherever it can, Dental Elite is thrilled to have been involved with the Dental Awards 2017 – here’s to doing it all again next year!

For more information contact Dental Elite. Visit www.dentalelite.co.uk, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01788 545 900

The Dentistry Show and Dental Technology Showcase (DTS) 2017 saw Ivoclar Vivadent UK & Ireland showcase their new brand, Ivoclar Digital, to the British market for the first time since it’s official launch at IDS, Cologne, in March.

Thanks to their prime location with clinical and technical stands adjacent to one another, Ivoclar Vivadent were able to demonstrate that their new digital products will provide both dentists and dental technicians with state-of-the-art professional expertise throughout the entire digital process journey.

The main attraction and making its debut as Ivoclar Vivadent's first chairside mill for clinical use, the PrograMill One. The world’s smallest 5-axis milling machine combines industrial manufacturing quality with high precision and modern design. In the innovative 5-axis turn-milling technique, the workpiece rotates around the tool at a constant feed and the tool never leaves the block, ensuring short milling times and minimal tool wear.

Various validated processing strategies are available for different materials and indications; the unit has been particularly developed for milling IPS e.max CAD and the new innovative IPS e.max ZirCAD. The machine’s wireless capabilities allow it to be operated from any location within close proximity with the help of a special app for tablets and smartphones; its optical status display shows the current status of the machine. PrograMill One is coordinated with intra-oral scanners and Design Studio software from 3Shape.

The PrograMill One will once again be demonstrated in June at Ivoclar Vivadent’s annual ICDE event, exclusively alongside the new PrograMill PM7 which will be presented to laboratories as a future-proof solution for the digital manufacture of prosthetic restorations.

The consistent hub of visiting dental professionals were assisted by Ivoclar Vivadent’s attending product specialists across both stands, who provided demonstrations on the new and existing ranges available, as well as special offers and expert advice. 

Ivoclar Vivadent’s Technical & Digital Product Manager, Leo James, who was on hand over the course of the two days commented, “ since the launch of Ivoclar Digital at IDS we anticipated that DTS (Dentistry) would be the perfect platform to showcase Ivoclar Vidadent's latest digital innovations to the UK’s dental industry.”

“We’re delighted with the enthusiasm that the Ivoclar Digital concept has been met with, overall the show has proven itself to be an invaluable lead & sales generator for us and I’m looking forward to seeing the new portfolio being integrated into the market further”.

For more information on the Ivoclar Digital product portfolio and technical support please contact a Digital Specialist or visit http://www.ivoclardigital.com/en

·         South and Ireland - Vicken Hatsakordzian 07772 746780

·         Midlands and North - Tom Rolling 07817 441320

Facebook: Ivoclar Vivadent UK & Ireland

Twitter: @IvoclarUK

Instagram: @IvoclarVivadentUK

GSK CONSUMER HEALTHCARE LAUNCHES NEW SENSODYNE RAPID RELIEF

New unique formulation is clinically proven to provide fast relief from the first brush¹and long-lasting* protection from dentine hypersensitivity.^,2

London, UK, June 2017 -  GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, the manufacturer of the number one leading sensitive toothpaste brand Sensodyne, today announced an advancement in dental care with the launch of new Sensodyne Rapid Relief. The unique anhydrous formulation works rapidly to form a barrier over exposed dentine and reduce sensitivity in just 60 seconds.¹ The new formulation builds ongoing protection with every brush, supporting the long-term management of dentine hypersensitivity*,³ a painful, chronic condition affecting as many as one in three people.⁴

The use of GSK Consumer Healthcare’s proprietary anhydrous formulation technology, means that individual ingredients contained in the formulation, including stannous fluoride and bio-adhesive polymers, remain stable and ready for activation by water. On contact with saliva in the mouth, the facilitating polymer becomes adhesive, and is able to form a gel-like scaffold in the surface of dentine, helping to trap stannous ions which occlude the open ends of the dentine tubules. In vitro data shows that after just one application, stannous ions, the key sensitivity active ingredient in new Sensodyne Rapid Relief, can extend as much as 80μm deep into the tubules,⁵ providing rapid occlusion and a 127 percent reduction in the flow of fluid through the dentine tubules, compared to the previous stannous fluoride formulation**.⁶ This robust occlusion is resistant to exposure to dietary acids, leading to clinically proven fast and long-lasting relief* from the pain of dentine hypersensitivity.⁷

“Dentine hypersensitivity is a common, and painful condition caused when the microscopic tubules in the dentine become exposed. Dentine exposure can be as a result of gum recession or enamel wear, uncovering thousands of tiny, narrow passages deep into the tooth, where there are exposed nerve endings. The pain is caused most often when eating cold or hot food/drink, which causes fluid movements in the tubules that stimulate the nerves, creating an instant, short, sharp pain. Many people adopt temporary coping strategies, avoiding contact with the affected area. Some avoid dental appointments for fear of major dental work, which can lead to further oral complications.^4,8,9  However, with the launch of the new formulation of Sensodyne Rapid Relief, GSK Consumer Healthcare offers a formulation clinically proven to relieve the pain of sensitive teeth in 60 seconds and give long lasting protection from its return.” said by Jon Creeth – Medical Affairs Principal Scientist GSK Consumer Healthcare.

“Sensodyne Rapid Relief beats sensitivity pain fast by enhancing the adhesiveness of the product on the tooth surface. This helps deliver the stannous fluoride effectively, allowing it to get to work really fast,” said Dr David Urquhart, R&D Lead, Sensitivity & Acid Erosion.

With the launch of Sensodyne Rapid Relief, GSK Consumer Healthcare aims to alleviate the symptoms of dentine hypersensitivity from the first brush, to break the cycle of pain some people find themselves in and enable long-term protection from dentine [hyper]sensitivity*. Through this and its broader Sensodyne portfolio, GSK Consumer Healthcare intends to make dentine hypersensitivity an easily manageable condition over the long-term, building on their overall purpose to create a future where every life is sensitivity-free.

Twice-daily brushing with Sensodyne Rapid Relief has been shown to continue to reduce dentine hypersensitivity over time,^3,10 while providing all the benefits expected of a regular toothpaste. Long-term use of sensitivity toothpastes like Sensodyne Rapid Relief have been found to lead to noticeable reductions in the impact of dentine hypersensitivity on everyday life,³ and in turn, a reduction in the ‘coping strategies’ used by people with sensitive teeth.⁹

Sensodyne Rapid Relief is available in store now. Also available in Whitening.

CHGBI/CHSENO/0085/17

About GSK Consumer Healthcare

GSK Consumer Healthcare is one of the world's largest consumer healthcare companies, responsible for some of the world’s best loved healthcare brands including AQUAFRESH, Sensodyne, Corsodyl, Panadol, Poligrip, Otrivin and Horlicks.

References

1.     GSK data on file 205710. July, 2016.

2.     GSK data on file 205697. June, 2016.

3.     GSK data on file RH01897. August, 2014

4.     Addy M. Dentine hypersensitivity: new perspectives on an old problem. Int Dent J. 2002;52: 367– 375.

5.     GSK data on file 2016.

6.     GSK Data on File ML636. November, 2016.           

7.     Accepted for presentation at IADR 2017 Abstract number 2632629

8.     Baker S et al. Longitudinal validation of the Dentine Hypersensitivity Experience Questionnaire (DHEQ). Poster presented at: IADR/AADR/CADR General Session & Exhibition; 2013 March 20–23, Seattle, Washington.

9.     GSK data on file Sensitive Teeth and Attitude Study. March, 2008.

10.  Parkinson CR, Jeffery P, Milleman JL, et al., Confirmation of efficacy in providing relief from the pain of dentin hypersensitivity of an anhydrous dentifrice containing 0.454% with or without stannous fluoride in an 8-week randomized clinical trial. Am J Dent. 2015;28(4):190-196.

NOTE: Trade marks are owned by or licensed to the GSK group of companies

With days to go before the UK once again goes to the polls and a large number of voters still undecided on how to cast their vote, there is still a huge amount to play for in the General Election 2017. The handling of the NHS is critical to any party’s success, so we have scrutinised the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat’s offerings in the lead up to June 8^th. If you don’t have the time or energy to trawl through hundreds of pages of manifesto pledges, read below for a helpful summary of NHS commitments.

The Commitments

The Conservative Party: 

1.       A commitment to the founding principles of the NHS; a service that meets the needs of everyone, based on clinical need not ability to pay and care should be free at the point of use.

2.       Spending will be increased by £8 billion in real terms over the next 5 years.

3.       Create a “truly seven-day healthcare service”, with GP weekend and evening appointments for all by 2019. Hospital consultants will be supervising patients every day, with weekend access to key diagnostic tests.

4.       Current 95% A&E target and 18 week elective care standard will be maintained.

5.       Prioritise during the EU negotiations that the 140,000 staff from EU countries “can carry on making their vital contribution to our health care system”, whilst continuing to invest in training medical students. Will encourage and develop new roles and create a diverse set of potential career paths for the NHS workforce.

6.       The most ambitious investment in building and technology that the NHS has ever seen, to ensure that care is delivered properly and efficiently.

7.       The NHS will become a “better employer”, strengthening the entitlement for flexible working and introducing better support services for employees.

8.       To implement the recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review to make sure that patients get drunk treatments faster, whilst ensuring value for money for the NHS.

9.       GPs will be expected to provide greater access, more innovative services and offer better facilities. A new GP Contract will be introduced.

10.   The role of the CQC will be extended to cover health related services commissioned by local authorities.

11.   10,000 mental health care professionals will be recruited. The co-ordination of mental health services with other local services will be improved.  

12.   Radical changes to social care for the elderly. Aligning the current means-testing for domiciliary care with that for residential care. The value of the family home will be taken into account, along with other assets and income when assessing the amount of funding that an individual will receive from the state. The current cap of £23,250 will be increased to £100,000. Individuals will be able to defer payments if receiving care at home in order to avoid selling their home during their lifetime.

13.   End of life care will be improved. Families who lose a baby will be offered additional bereavement support.

None of the above pledges have been costed in the published manifesto.

The Labour Party:

1.       A commitment of over £30 billion in extra funding over the next Parliament. Paid for through increased income tax for the highest 5% of earners and an increased tax on private medical insurance. Money will be freed up by halving the fees currently paid to management consultants.

2.       A new office for budgetary responsibility will be introduced to oversee health spending and scrutinise how it is spent. “Sustainability and transformation plans” will be halted, and a review undertaken, asking local people to contribute, considering patient need rather than available finance. A new regulator “NHS Excellence” will be introduced.

3.       Privatisation of the health service will be reversed. A legal duty will be introduced on the Secretary of State to ensure that excessive private profits are not made out of the NHS at the expense of the patient.

4.       Promise investment to give patients a modern, well-resourced service. Guaranteeing access to treatment within 18 weeks, taking a million people off the NHS waiting lists by the end of the next Parliament. Patients will be seen in A&E within 4 hours. Mixed sex wards will end.

5.       The Cancer Strategy for England will be fulfilled by 2020.

6.       Funding will be increased to GP services and cuts to pharmacies halted, and the current position reviewed.

7.       Patients will be given fast access to the most effective new drugs and treatments, and “value for money” agreements will be negotiated with pharma companies.

8.       To make the country “autism friendly”; with specialised care plans in place and access to condition management education.

9.       High quality and personalised end of life care.

10.   A commitment to completing the trial programme for PrEP, and rolling the treatment out to high risk groups to reduce HIV infection.    

11.   Free parking for patients, staff and visitors at hospitals by increasing tax on private medical care premiums.

12.   For the work force the pay cap will be scrapped, with an independent review body making the decision. Bursaries and funding for health related degrees will be scrapped (University tuition fees will be scrapped).

13.   The rights of EU nationals working in the NHS will be immediately guaranteed.

14.   The foundations for a “National Care Service for England” will be laid. Social care budgets will be increased by £8 billion. Place a maximum limit on lifetime personal contributions to care costs, raise the asset threshold below which people are entitled to state support, and provide free end of life care.

15.   Funding for mental health services will be ring fenced.  Out of area placements for young people will be ended by 2019. Early intervention for children and young people’s mental health services will be prioritised. Counselling services will be available in all secondary schools.

The Liberal Democrats:

1.       Pledge to put a penny on the pound on Income Tax to raise £6 billion in extra revenue for NHS and Social care funding. This money would be directed to key areas, including social care, primary care, mental health and public health.

2.       Commission a dedicated health and care tax following consultation.

3.       Guarantee the rights of all EU NHS and social care staff to remain in the UK.

4.       End the public sector pay freeze for NHS workers and reinstate nurse bursaries.

5.       Transforming mental health care and reducing associated waiting times to no more than 6 weeks for a therapy appointment for depression or anxiety. No young person will wait for more than two weeks for treatment when they first experience psychosis. The focus will be on young people and pregnant women/ new mothers.

6.       An end to out of area placements and improving front line services in schools and universities. Ensure LGBT and inclusive mental health services receive funding and support.

7.       Establish a cross party health and social care convention to carry out a review of the long term sustainability of the health and social care finances and workforce. Introduce a statutory independent budget monitoring agency for health and care, similar to the Office for Budget Responsibility.  

8.       Improving the integration of health and social care; ultimately creating one service with pooled budgets.

9.       Implement a cap on the cost of social care and increase the earnings limited from £100 to £150 per week for eligibility for carers’ allowance, and reduce number of care hours a week for qualification.

10.   Provide more choice of end of life care and move towards free end of life social care. Expanding the work of hospices.

11.   Promote easier access to GPs, expanding evening and weekend opening, encouraging the use of on line appointments, whilst supporting GPs to prevent practice closures.

12.   Using innovative funding to promote GP led multidisciplinary health and care hubs and ensure access to local pharmacies.

13.   Helping people stay healthy in the first place through a National Well Being strategy, including public awareness campaigns on cancer and by developing a strategy to tackle childhood obesity and a sugar tax.

14.   Introduce a minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

15.   Make PrEP for HIV prevention available on the NHS.

What will these pledges cost?

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has undertaken its own review of the funding behind each of the above pledges and state as follows;

The Conservative manifesto:  Would suggest an increase in Department of Health (DH) spending to £132 billion (in today’s prices) in 2022­–23, if the other (non-NHS) aspects of DH spending were frozen in real terms over this period. This would be an average growth in real spending of 1.2% per year between 2016–17 and 2022–23.

The Labour manifesto: promised a larger increase in health funding. Labour would increase spending relative to current government plans by £7.7 billion in 2017–18, rising to £8.4 billion (in nominal terms) by 2021-22. This could take DH spending to around £135 billion (in today’s prices) in 2021–22. This would be an average 2.0% per year real increase in spending between 2016–17 and 2021–22.

The Liberal Democrats: have pledged to increase spending on health and social care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by approximately £6 billion each year, with £2 billion ring-fenced specifically for social care. This could imply DH spending of £131 billion (in today’s prices) in 2021-22, and average growth in spending of 1.4% per year in real terms between 2016–17 and 2021–22.

However they also conclude that the planned spending of all three parties is well below the historical 4% per year growth in health care spending per year that has been seen since 2009/10. The difference between the parties spending plans is in fact reasonably modest and as such the NHS will continue to suffer financially whoever will win the general election.

Julia Furley, Barrister, JFH Law LLP

www.dentexhealth.co.uk

Clinically proven to reduce gum problems with unique ActivREPAIR™ technology

Today at the BDA Conference, Oral-B has launched the NEW Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair Toothpaste.

Gum problems, a leading cause of tooth loss, can often be prevented through proper at-home oral care and regular visits to a dental professional. Today, more than 50% of the world’s adult population suffers from gum problems and in most/many cases patients ignore or even do not notice the symptoms of gum problems until it is too late, something that must be incredibly frustrating for a dental professional.

Dr Phil Ower, immediate past president of the British Society of Periodontology, commented: “It is our duty as dental professionals to act in the prevention, early diagnosis, and effective treatment of gum problems in order to combat the potentially serious effect of these issues."

Proper brushing, coupled with specialized toothpaste, not only can prevent gum problems, but also improve gum health.

Proper mechanical plaque control is the cornerstone to reduce gingivitis. However, there is clinical evidence that specialized toothpaste can provide additional gum health benefits. More specifically, over 31 studies show that Stabilized Stannous Fluoride adds value to tooth-brushing through reducing gum inflammation and bleeding.  

“Oral-B has a long history of supporting dental professionals.  Our goal is to always provide superior oral care products that continue the care that starts in your chair, helping your patients achieve stronger teeth and healthier gums”, stated Jane Kidson, Oral-B Professional Oral Health Country Manager.

Oral-B first introduced Stannous Fluoride in the 1950’s to prevent carries. Since then, Oral-B invested over a decade of research to evolve the Stannous technology to also help patients significantly improve gum health and prevent enamel erosion.

Today, Oral-B is introducing the NEW Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair Toothpaste to help patients address the increasing prevalence of gum or enamel issues. Featuring unique ActivRepair^TM technology (with 2 sources of Stannous: Stannous Fluoride and Stannous Chloride), it is the best clinically-proven toothpaste from Oral-B to help restore gum health and prevent enamel erosion.

Benefits of Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair Toothpaste

NEW Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair is the best clinically-proven toothpaste from Oral-B to help reduce gum problems and prevent enamel erosion.

Reduces gum problems[i]

• ActivRepair™ technology provides 70% more Stannous vs. Oral-B Pro-Expert for better bacterial control through antibacterial action and bacterial growth inhibition of the plaque.
• Through this, the new Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair toothpaste can deliver up to 72% greater reduction in gum problems versus ordinary toothpastes[ii].

Helps prevent enamel erosionⁱ

• ActivRepair™ Technology actively remineralizes weakened enamel and builds a protective smear layer that protects teeth against acid erosion even beyond pH<3.5.
• With continued use, Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair Toothpaste makes teeth 3x stronger against enamel erosion vs ordinary toothpastes[iii]

Benefits of Brushing with Oral-B

The use of a specialized toothpaste such as Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair Toothpaste, in combination with Oral-B’s iconic round brush head that cleans better than a manual toothbrush, supports your patients by helping them to brush at their best.

The unique features of Oral-B’s round brush head embrace and adapt to each tooth to deliver superior results on plaque and gum vs. a regular manual toothbrush.  The Oral-B round head and technology has been validated consistently by external and internal clinical research to deliver:

·         Superior plaque removal: Removes 2x more plaque vs. a regular manual toothbrush[iv]

·         Healthier gums: 36% reduction in gum bleeding sites vs. Sonicare[v] and 2x as effective at reducing gingivitis vs. a regular manual brushes[vi]

·         Preferred by patients: 66% preferred Oral-B vs. 31% for a sonic brush[vii]

An independent review of published research by the Cochrane Collaboration[viii] also confirmed the superiority and effectiveness of oscillating-rotating power technology over manual brushes, whilst recognizing its safety.

Oral-B Partners with HPV Action to Improve the Lives of People in the UK

Oral-B strives to help consumers improve their oral health, an important part of overall health and wellness. Research shows that gum issues and particularly gingivitis affect 1 out of 2 adults worldwideⁱ. Some studies also suggest poor gum health is associated with heart disease, diabetes and even premature birth[ix]^,[x].  As part of our effort to improve the overall health and wellbeing of consumers in the UK, Oral-B has partnered with HPV Action (HPVA), a collaborative partnership of 46 patient and professional organisations that are working to reduce the health burden of HPV, which is estimated to be the cause of 5% of all cancer cases[xi]. Oral-B will donate £5 for each completed Oral-B Gum & Enamel Repair Toothpaste dental patient evaluation programme.  All forms received by the end of October 2017 will qualify. Together with HPV Action we believe that we can make an important difference in the lives of consumers in the UK.

About Oral-B
Oral-B^® is the worldwide leader in the over $5 billion brushing market. Part of the Procter & Gamble Company, the brand includes manual and electric toothbrushes for children and adults, oral irrigators and interdental products, such as dental floss. Oral-B^® manual toothbrushes are used by more dentists than any other brand in the U.S. and many international markets.

References

BioHorizons is delighted to announce a 20% discount off the registration fee for all courses taking place in June 2017.

All you need to do is book before 26 May and input the discount code ‘SUMMERSALE’ at checkout.

The courses running this June are:

• Implant Planning and Computer Guided Surgery – a one-day, hands-on course designed to bring together the clinician, laboratory and software, to give a detailed overview of the digital workflow of implant dentistry

• Immediate Loading Technique with TeethXpress® – this two-day course will provide delegates with the opportunity to understand the science behind the immediate loading technique

• The Latest Concepts in Mucogingival Grafting – a practical course to enhance delegates’ knowledge of mucogingival surgical techniques, while developing periodontal surgical skills

• The Latest Concepts in Implant Maintenance – providing lectures, group discussion and hands-on workshops for dental hygienists focused on the latest concepts in implant maintenance.

For further information, please visit www.theimplanthub.com/education.

The British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT) and the British Association of Dental Therapists (BADT) have united to apply for prescribing exemptions that would broaden dental hygienists’ and dental therapists’ scope of practice for the benefit of their patients.

Driven by respective immediate past presidents – Michaela O’Neill and Fiona Sandom – we were recently given the green light by the Department of Health to move into the next stage of the campaign.

To do so, we need your help.

Have you had to send patients away with incomplete or no treatment because you couldn’t get a prescription when you needed it? How did this affect your ability to deliver patient care? What would it mean to be able to provide certain prescription only medicines, without requiring a prescription from the dentist?

The more examples of cases we can collect for the cause, the bigger a voice we will have. Please email your experiences and the impact these had on you, your patients and your practice to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By working together, we can drive change. 

For more information about this intuitive or about the BSDHT, please visit www.bsdht.org.uk, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01788 575050

A gathering of more than 400 delegates at this year’s Henry Schein ConnectDental Digital Symposium is testament to just how far the digital message is resonating with the profession. Organised at the splendid Grange St Paul’s Hotel in central London, the Digital Symposium is now rightly regarded as the premier digital event in UK dentistry.

The diverse two-day programme covered all aspects of the digital spectrum, through a series of lectures, presentations and break-out sessions and was opened with a keynote lecture by Ian Buckle. Mr. Buckle, an experienced clinician with a private practice in the North West, examined the important relationship between clinicians and their technical colleagues and how the use of digital tools can aid communication not only with the laboratory, but also other specialists, including orthodontists, implant dentists and surgeons. In a frank and entertaining personal commentary, Ian discussed what works, what does not and what the future might hold for those reluctant to adopt digital processes.

The Henry Schein ConnectDental platform offers digital technology solutions to help improve efficiency and productivity for both the practice and the laboratory with the aim of enhancing the patient experience by delivering predictable, high-quality dentistry. The role of digital dentistry in achieving this aim was perfectly illustrated by one of the highlights of the Symposium—a  two-part presentation by Colin Campbell and Jameel Gardee, which included a full case study on digitally planning the smile and guided implant surgery. The presentation included details of how intraoral scanning, CBCT, digital x-rays, digital photography and smartphone video were all used to provide a fully-planned, interdisciplinary case, which included the live capture of a patient’s information. In addition, the case demonstrated how to create a digital wax-up as well as the production of a milled implant surgical guide. The case was completed on the Saturday morning when Colin described the surgical procedures and compared the relative benefits of the different guided systems used on the case.

With content to excite and inspire dental professionals at every stage of their digital journey, the Digital Symposium is clearly at the forefront of digital education. Dental professionals rely on Henry Schein’s experience and advice. With this symposium, the company guided those taking their first steps in the digital world and assisted those practitioners who have already embraced the technology and are seeking to perfect their craft.

Jane MacRae, Marketing Manager at Henry Schein Dental, was delighted with the response from the profession and the industry: “The Digital Symposium is the perfect vehicle for us to demonstrate the way in which the clinical solutions we offer help our customers remain at the forefront of patient care. These solutions work across numerous dental disciplines, including implants, orthodontics, endodontics, prosthodontics, laboratory services, and many more. We believe that the experience and knowledge shared at this event will show customers our commitment to help them achieve their digital vision. This year’s event encapsulated a shift in the acceptance of the digital transformation and I think we can look forward to some very exciting times in the near future.”

Videos and images of the event are available to download at hsddigitalsymposium.co.uk

For the last 18 months’ we have been writing articles about the threat of cyber-attacks to the healthcare industry. This is indeed one of the most targeted sectors in the UK and the risk to your dental practice is significant. This has further been highlighted by the events of the last few days where the NHS has suffered its biggest attack of this kind.

What is the risk to you?

No business is completely safe from the threat of cybercrime, no matter how many firewalls you have or virus scanners, it only reduces your risk by a small fraction. Over the last few years we have seen major companies and organisations such as Talk Talk and MI5 affected, organisations who invest heavily in the reliability of their IT systems are just as vulnerable and you and me.

So how does it work? Often, we see businesses that have their IT systems or software encrypted by the criminals. This means that the hackers take control of your systems and lock you out. They usually request payment in the form of Bitcoins in exchange for releasing your data back to you. In the past when this has happened clients have still had major problems with their software afterwards and have had to get professional companies in to reinstate the corrupted data. If you decide not to pay the ransom, then the cybercriminals will often look to sell the data on the black-market and then it is lost forever.

What is your most valuable data?  

For any medical practice the value is in the patient medical records and appointment logs. This is the lifeblood of your business and without access to this the practice would struggle to continue, at least in the short term.

In the event that your patient records were sold on the black-market and got into the hands of other cybercriminals your patients could be at significant risk. Your patients can sue you for compensation if their medical records became accessible to others. You could face a claim by every single person affected by the data breach and furthermore, you would become liable for their legal costs as well as your own if you required representation or defending from such claims. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) can also get involved too. They are the statutory regulator when it comes to data security and they will investigate a breach of data to see if there are grounds for imposing statutory fines against you! These fines can start from tens of thousands of pounds and there is no real upper limit.

So what is the solution?    

It is very difficult to guarantee your business will not be affected by cybercrime although I would recommend that you review your IT security arrangements anyway and make upgrades where possible. Something that is within our control however, is what measures we have in place to protect our businesses should something catastrophic happen.

To do this, it is advisable to have Cyber Liability Insurance cover in place. As a basic cover, this will protect you against the claims that could be made against you, including legal costs and statutory fines. However, there is further cover that can be included within a policy such as:

·         Damage to Hardware

·         Data Corruption & Reinstatement

·         Financial Crime i.e. money being fraudulently taken from your bank account

·         Data-Breach Expenses including reputation protection

·         Loss of Business Income

How much does a policy cost?

It all depends on a few variables:

·         How many patient records do you hold?

·         What is your gross annual revenue?

·         What limit of indemnity do you require?

The last question above will be an area that your insurance adviser can guide you on. The larger the practice and the more records held the greater the exposure to claims and statutory fines. Prices typically start from around £500 per year although we are usually able to save our clients’ money on their main Practice Insurance policy if a Cyber Liability policy is taken out.

Enquire with All Med Pro today by calling us on 0203 757 6950 or emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Further details can also be found on our website at https://www.allmedproinsurance.com/cyber-liability-insurance

Simplyhealth Professionals is about to start a series of in front seminars across England, Wales, and Scotland to highlight the current concerns amongst dentists working in the NHS and how they can plan for their future. Participants will debate NHS contract issues, dental provision, and the key issues affecting dentists working either in NHS or mixed practices.

The seminars have been created to help dentists learn more about NHS dental provision in Scotland, or NHS contract changes in the UK, hear the latest expert insights, and receive advice on what options they have for the future. They will take place throughout Scotland, England and Wales throughout May, June and July.

Dr Henry Clover, Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth Professionals, the host of the seminars, said: “Due to the uncertainty facing dentists working in the NHS, these evenings will give everyone a chance to talk to others with similar concerns, and learn what they can to do prepare for their future.”

The first seminar will take place on Tuesday 6 June in Newcastle from 6.00pm to 9.00pm and will include evening drinks and a buffet. All of the events are free and dentists who attend will earn 2 hours of CPD.

If NHS speculation leaves you uncertain about your future...

In Front Seminars:

Tuesday 6th June – Marriott Gosforth Park – Newcastle

Tuesday 13th June – AMEX Stadium – Brighton

Wednesday 14th June – Holiday Inn Bristol Filton – Bristol

Monday 26th June – Sandy Park – Exeter

Tuesday 27th June – Cambridge Belfry – Cambridge

Wednesday 28th June – Park Royal Hotel – Warrington

Monday 3rd July – Village Cardiff – Cardiff

Wednesday 5th July – Holiday Inn – Winchester

Thursday 6th July – Crowne Plaza London the City – London

Thursday 13th July – Leicester Marriott – Leicester

Monday 17th July – Thorpe Park Hotel – Leeds

Tuesday 18th July – Tankersley Manor – Sheffield

To reserve a place: www. denplan.co.uk/nhs-seminars or call 01962 828 026.

Hello all,

Today (17th May 2017) we will be delivering our 10,000th daily email digest to our GDPUK members. Something we are extremely proud of.

• Our first daily digest was sent out in 2008 when we built the first GDPUK website (pictured above).
• Barring one or two hiccups alomng the way.... We have sent out 3 daily digest emails a day since.
• The emails contain the latest news from the site, plus the top forum posts of the day. This keeps our members engaged with the site and more importantly, what is happening within UK Dentistry.
• The digest contains advertising banners from our partners, so thanks to all our loyal clients and friends over the last ten years who have made it possible to reach this milestone.
• In that time we have had 54 different people post over 1000 times on the forum pages. All that posting helped to create the unique content of the digests. So thanks to the 54 people and the thousands of other posters who have contributed to the site.
• Thanks also, to over 10,000 members of the dental profession who have signed up to the site since 2008.
• The GDPUK forum continues to thrive on a daily basis. The forum has had over 22,000 threads created and nearly 256,000 replies to those threads. That is 11.5 replies to every thread created. A lot of knowledge and content contained in our forum pages :)
• You have to be a member to view our forum and daily digests. Register for free here.

Thanks again for supporting and reading GDPUK.

We enjoyed an extremely busy couple of days at the Dentistry Show on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham. This year we didn’t have a stand, so we did a lot of walking, talking and listening of course…...

A few initial thoughts and products that caught the eye:-

The Full Picture

In a room of a few thousand people, it always intrigues me the different impressions people get from the show. “Fantastic show”, “our stand has been so busy” “selling loads of gear” and then you move about 3 feet to the next stand and the reaction is totally different “waste of time”, “not as busy as last year” “this part of the room isn’t getting any footfall” so when stepping back and looking at the full picture, I reckon it is somewhere in the middle. The show was certainly busy but it is not for everyone.

Takeaway - it is not always about following the crowd. This kind of show works for some companies but not all.

Closer Still

Closer Still Media, have built an amazing business, which is demonstrated by the fact that the show attracts a huge number of exhibitors, speakers and visitors. As you will know from previous blogs, GDPUK have not always had the best experience at the Dentistry Show but we must say that it has a great spirit, atmosphere and 2 days seems a perfect amount of time.

Well done to all the Dentistry Show team and the wider Closer Still Media team which is now over 200 people strong. They obviously understand the formula to produce extremely successful events.

Internet of Things

Last year we reported on Oral-B’s move into connected toothbrushes and now Philips have followed with the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart which not only is incredibly smart with its matt black handle, black brush head and charge in glass technology, it also uses connected technology to inspire and motivate patients to take better care of their oral health. I believe it will be available to consumers in the next few months. Great to see dentistry leading the way in connected devices and improving oral-health at the same time.

Good to Great

“Good to Great” is a journey to greater business prosperity for dentists, which has been underpinned in the last 12 months by the introduction of SoE’s Customer Success Programme. (Software of Excellence). The Good to Great Challenge encourages dentists to think more clearly about how they can optimise their performance and maximise revenue and provides a vehicle by which dentists can track and follow the progress of likeminded dental practices. More information available here - http://www.g2gchallenge.com/ 

Will be interesting to see how many practices get involved in this challenge and what affect it has on their practice over the 12 months.

Social

The show is great for networking which is demonstrated by the thousands of people attending and the huge queues at the Starbucks just outside hall 5! I really enjoyed this element of the show, fantastic to catch up with so many people from all areas of the profession.

A few other mentions and thoughts

• The Simply Health juice drinks were delicious and perfect after a few beers on the Friday evening. I am sure anyone who attended the Dental Awards or the Dental Circle party also found those drinks refreshing :)
• Prem at Quick Straight Teeth certainly caught the eye but I know this has been covered elsewhere on social media :)
• The dental industry certainly seemed positive overall, digital is growing. Innovation isn't always the quickest in dentistry compared to other sectors but some of the options and resources available to a dentist just starting their dental practice journey are endless.
• The 3M intraoral mobile tablet scanner is extremely clever and could be excellent for interaction with your patient. Info here.

Thanks for reading and hopefully see you at the BDA Conference in a couple of weeks. Get in touch if you would like to meet up or need some advice on the best restaurants in Manchester.

Simplyhealth Professionals has today announced a new personalised assessment for young patients which they are providing through their highly regarded Denplan PreViser Patient Assessment (DEPPA) application. Young DEPPA (YDEPPA) brings the benefits of comprehensive online patient assessment to young patients and their parents or carers for the first time.

The primary benefit of YDEPPA, like its adult counterpart, is to support communication with young patients about their oral health. YDEPPA reports offer personalised biofeedback in a patient friendly manner. Dentists can access YDEPPA from the main menu of DEPPA by selecting ‘Young Patients’.

The reports use a traffic light colour-code system of red, amber and green to indicate what is going well and what the patient needs to improve on with the help of their dental care provider. Smiley symbols enhance the colour-code effect for young patients. The reports clearly indicate if any aspects of oral health should be of particular concern to patients and their parents or carers. Prevention advice tailored to the age of the patient forms the second page of the report.

A young patient DEPPA report (patients under 17 years of age) comprises two key scoring elements:

• A composite score (YDEPPA score) out of 100 measures patient perception and current oral health status, including two risk factors for dental caries and one risk factor for dental erosion. There is no separate measurement or reporting of future disease risk in YDEPPA as at the present time the evidence base for future disease risk factors in young patients is not as developed as that for adults.
• A summary of patient overall care needs (Low, Moderate or High) which may be helpful in fee category guidance in Denplan Plans for Children.

Henry Clover, Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “There is evidence to support that personalised biofeedback, delivered using reports such as DEPPA for patients, is more likely to trigger the emotional response required in order that behaviour change can occur than traditional methods. The earlier that we can educate young patients on what they can do at home to support dental care plans, the better their oral health will be in the long term.”

On an individual patient basis YDEPPA supplies valuable guidance to inform the development of a care (treatment) plan. YDEPPA reports allow clinicians and patients to monitor the success of care plans over time.

YDEPPA is very quick to complete, comprising just 14 questions. Reports can be either printed in hard copy and given to patients, or e-mailed to them with consent.

YDEPPA protocols were developed using Adult DEPPA, the Oral Health Assessment (OHA) and The Oral Wellbeing Assessments (OWA) as the starting point. Both the OHA and the OWA were developed as part of Denplan Excel for Children. Stephen Fayle, Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, Leeds, who guided the development of Denplan Excel for Children was a key adviser in the development of YDEPPA, as was Iain Chapple, Professor of Periodontology, University of Birmingham, and Liz Chapple, Managing Director of DEPPA service provider, Oral Health Innovations*.

Liz Chapple said: “This is a really exciting development as it is the first of its kind. YDEPPA is very simple to use, instantly producing a comprehensive assessment of a child’s oral health in an easy to understand format. If it achieves anything near the positive impact on behaviour that the adult version has achieved, its impact on prevention could be lifelong.”

Notes:

* Simply Health are also grateful to the many additional colleagues who provided advice during the development of the YDEPPA protocol for the Pilot Study. The Pilot Study was conducted in November 2016. A dozen practitioners who were prolific users of Adult DEPPA were recruited to take part. We used an on-line survey to elicit their feedback.

About Simplyhealth Professionals:

In February 2017, Denplan rebranded as Simplyhealth Professionals.

Dental

Simplyhealth Professionals is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million patients registered to a Denplan product.

Simplyhealth Professionals provides the following range of leading Denplan dental payment plans under the Denplan name:

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Membership: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Hygiene: A dental payment plan without dental insurance for all types of practice from NHS, mixed and private to support patients commit to a consistent hygiene programme.

·         Denplan Emergency Insurance: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only

Simplyhealth Professionals also provide a wide range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme and Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 169 9962.

For Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   

For details of all of our products, visit www.denplan.co.uk

There is a feeling amongst dentists on forums such as this that the GDC has become too heavy handed when dealing with alleged misconduct cases.

In March 2017 alone, of the 29 misconduct Fitness to Practice cases heard by the GDC, 9 dental professionals were suspended, 4 had conditions placed on them, 4 were erased and 2 were reprimanded. There were also 4 cases with the outcome still pending. That means of the 25 cases concluded 76% of dental professionals were found to have committed misconduct.

Compare this with the GMC figures for the same month, there were only 6 misconduct Fitness to Practice cases of which only 2 had findings of impairment made against the doctor. Considering there are more doctors than dental professionals registered to practice in the UK, the difference is significant.
 
In November 2016 the GDC introduced Case Examiners in an attempt to help streamline the Fitness to Practice process. Their role is to consider whether a referral should be made to the Practice Committee. Given this new stage is still in its infancy, we are yet to see what impact this will have on misconduct cases within the dental profession. However, it is hoped that as cases will be considered by a lay member and a dental professional, a more proactive approach will be taken at an early stage. This is the approach taken by the GMC and the low numbers of misconduct cases being referred for hearings could be a positive sign of things to come.

Unfortunately there are rarely any consequences for patients who make spurious complaints which are not upheld; however, the same cannot be said for the professional. The time, stress and expense of misconduct hearings can have a devastating effect. Many feel that their stress is exacerbated by an unsympathetic and heavy handed regulator.

If you are facing a misconduct investigation, it will no doubt be a worrying period for you.  It is important to understand from the outset what legal test the GDC will be applying. This way you can properly prepare your defence and gather evidence from an early stage. Proper presentation at the start may well ensure that the Case Examiner determines that a case should be closed at an early stage. If the case should proceed to a hearing you will be armed with the necessary knowledge to put forward the best possible defence, which in turn could help with any later appeals to the High Court.

What test does the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) apply when assessing Fitness to Practice?

The Test

The test the PCC applies is twofold;

1.       Has misconduct taken place?

2.       Is the dentist’s fitness to practice impaired?

Whether or not misconduct has occurred will depend on the allegations raised and the evidence produced and as such this element of the test will be fact sensitive. The PCC must decide whether ‘it is more likely than not’ that the allegations took place, which unfortunately is a relatively low threshold. However, even if any of the allegations are found to be proved, case law has established that the conduct must be ‘serious’ before moving to the next stage of the test.

Tip. Is this a potential area that can be challenged? Are you able to obtain evidence or refer to previous cases that show the misconduct is not serious and therefore no further action should be taken?

When considering if a dentist’s fitness to practice is impaired, the PCC should look at the dentist’s current fitness to practice? It will not be sufficient to show historic impairment, unless the misconduct is so grave as to warrant it.

It should be noted that impairment is not assessed against any established standards of proof; it is a matter of judgment for the PCC committee. However, a failure to comply with the fundamental standards laid out in the ‘Standards for Dental Professionals’ is likely to lead to a finding of impairment.

Tip. Even if you do not accept the allegations against you, you should consider what actions you can undertake to show your fitness to practice is not impaired. For example, attending training courses, amending your policies and procedures, or being mentored/shadowing another dental professional. This should not be seen as an admission of guilt but a recognition that professionals can always seek to improve. 

The Sanctions

If impairment is found, the PCC will go on to decide which of the following sanctions to impose:

·         Reprimand;

·         Conditions;

·         Suspension;

·         Erasure.

In deciding what sanctions to impose, the PCC must apply the principle of proportionality by weighing the interests of the public against those of the dentist.

Tip. This is where you need to put forward your mitigating circumstances so as to reduce the sanction imposed. Also you are allowed to suggest out what sanctions should be imposed and if you are able to give the PCC well thought-out sanctions bearing in mind the allegations, this could prevent erasure or suspension.  

Stage 1 – Case Assessment

When the GDC receives a complaint, it first considers if it is the correct body to deal with it. If so, it will obtain more information from the complainant to assess whether one of the ‘Standards for Dental Professionals’ may have been breached. It is important to note that the Case Assessors do not make any findings of fact.

You will be asked to provide:

1.       Evidence of your indemnity insurance cover;

2.       Details of your current employers/anyone you are contracted to provide services to;

3.       If the complaint is about dental treatment, the patient’s medical records.

Tip. At this stage do not provide any further information than the above. Whilst it will be tempting to explain what has happened, at this stage the GDC has not set out what the allegations are against you, so you do not know what you are responding to.  Any statement given could later be used against you.

Stage 2 – Case Examiner

If the Case Assessors consider a dentist’s fitness to practice may be impaired the case is referred to the Case Examiners; the case will be considered by one lay person and one professional. At this stage you will be sent details of the specific allegations against you and it is at this stage you will be asked to respond. The Case Examiners are not making findings of fact. Their role is to consider whether there is sufficient information to make a referral to the Practice Committee.

Tip 1. If the allegations are not clear, seek clarification. If evidence is referred to, ask for copies of that evidence.

Tip 2. Whilst the Case Examiners are not determining the case, if you can show there was no misconduct, we would recommend responding fully to the allegations and providing evidence to support your assertions. However, if you think there may be a case against you on the evidence received think very carefully before making any admissions at this early stage. It may well be worth seeing the extent of the case against you before admitting any wrong doing.

Stage 3 – Hearing

Should the case progress to a hearing then you will need to fully prepare for the same bearing in mind the test set out above. Consider:

·         What evidence do you need to rebut the allegations?

·         Are you able to show the misconduct is not serious?

·         What have you done to show your fitness is not impaired?

·         Will other dentists/patients provide statements as to your character?

·         What mitigating circumstances are there?

·         What sanctions should be imposed?

Tip. If you are not happy with the GDC’s decision you have the right to appeal to the High Court within 28 days. We set out the circumstances when you can appeal in Issue 2 of our dental bulletin.

If you need advice on a current Fitness to Practice investigation or appealing a decision of the GDC, please contact Laura Pearce on 0207 388 1658 or by email at lpearce@jfhlaw.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for advice.

Simplyhealth has successfully signed another 50/50 Dental Practice Partnership with, Fox Dental Care based in St Austell, Cornwall.

With around 1,500 dental patients, many of whom are already covered by Simplyhealth’s Denplan dental plans, the partnership will support Fox Dental Care to further develop, grow and continue to serve its local community.

As part of an ongoing commitment to investment and innovation in the dental market, Simplyhealth’s partnership scheme offers dental practices the opportunity to enter into an equal partnership, ensuring that both partners have equal rights in the practices.

The partnership model has been designed to enable dentists to retain day to day clinical management with Simplyhealth providing support and expertise in business services, development and patient insights gained from their existing successful Denplan services as well as through helping over 3 million people with their everyday health needs across the group.

The model works well for Practice owners looking for a smooth transition into retirement while wanting to retain responsibility for the day to day decisions and clinical delivery.  They can retain the legacy they have built in the community but are able to realise the value of the practice and make the move into ownership less of a barrier for the new partner.

Romana Abdin, Chief Executive of Simplyhealth added: “This is a true partnership that is for the benefit of Fox’s Dental Care, patients and Simplyhealth. We’re looking forward to working together as Simon approaches his retirement, growing the business and serving more patients. We want to work in partnership with more Healthcare Professionals so we can seize opportunities and overcome challenges together, while supporting more patients to make the most of life through better everyday health.”

Simon Fox, owner of Fox Dental Care, explains: “Selling a dental practice is an incredibly stressful and complex process, one that I was not looking forward to. However, the help and experience of the Simplyhealth team made the whole thing straightforward.  From first meetings right through to contract signing, I have felt relaxed and supported, which is the same as I have done during the last 25 plus years of working with them. In particular having our dedicated Simplyhealth Business Development Executive, Harriet, always at the end of the phone, has really proved invaluable. Selling the business you've lovingly built up over 35 years to someone you trust and already have a great relationship with has certainly made things easier. I look forward to the coming years in partnership and to my eventual retirement.”

For further information about Simplyhealth please visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk.

http://newsroom.simplyhealth.co.uk/

@SimplyhealthUK

Facebook.com/SimplyhealthUK

Bridge2Aid is gearing up for its national fundraising day – Smile in Pink. This is a day during National Smile Month when people in the UK dental community come together to wear pink and fairy wings proudly for a very good cause – to ensure millions in East Africa have access to safe emergency dental treatment.

This year, the event will take place on 2^nd of June and Bridge2Aid is rounding up businesses, organisations, dental practices and supporters to join forces with thousands of others who believe that everyone has the right to be pain-free.

Imagine suffering with a painful toothache for months or years; the pain being so great you miss work or struggle caring for your family. Or imagine your child in pain and not able to attend school. Then imagine having no access to safe dental care.

In fact, more than 70% of the world’s population has no access to the most simple dental pain relief, leaving billions to face a daily battle in the toughest of life circumstances. There is a desperate need to tackle oral disease, infection and chronic pain in communities throughout the developing world.

The money raised during Smile in Pink Day 2017 will fund emergency dental training programmes for rural health workers in the developing world, so that they can provide life-changing dental care in their communities.

“Every year on Smile in Pink Day, friends and supporters from around the world help to change and save lives – freeing millions in East Africa from the prospect of unnecessary pain and suffering caused by untreated oral disease and infections”, said Mark Topley, Bridge2Aid's CEO.

He continued, “This event really brings the dental community together and provides fantastic support for the work the whole Bridge2Aid family delivers in East Africa.”

About Smile in Pink Day

Since 2014, Smile in Pink Day has seen thousands of people in the dental community come together during National Smile Month to wear pink and fundraise for Bridge2Aid’s work. The theme this year is fairy wings and fairy cakes, and the money raised will provide intensive, practical training in emergency dental skills to existing health workers in East Africa – ensuring those in the poorest communities are able to function free from unnecessary pain, and avoid the risk of preventable infections and diseases.

About Bridge2Aid

Bridge2Aid is a UK-registered charity that aims to provide emergency dental training to rural health workers in East Africa. Since 2002, Bridge2Aid has had a big impact, having delivered 83 training programmes in Tanzania and Rwanda, as well as having successfully trained 461 government health workers, providing access to emergency dental treatment for over 4.6 million people.

Our vision is a world free of dental pain and our work provides long-term, lasting solutions by passing skills into local hands. For more information, visit www.bridge2aid.org and follow @Bridge2Aid on Twitter.

To register for Smile in Pink Day 2017 and get your participant kit, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information, visit www.bridge2aid.org

Dentistry show is here!

If you’re heading to the show make sure you head to B70 to visit the Patient Plan Direct team. Why you ask? Here are eight great reasons…

1. Cost saving clinic

We know you like to keep your business outgoings under control (who doesn’t?), which is why we want to help with that. Take a note of the number of patients you currently have on plan, plus the admin fee you’re paying your existing plan provider and then head over to stand B70 to discover how we could save you thousands of pounds per year by switching to our low-cost and fully supported service.

2. More transfers than ever before

We’ve noticed a huge trend of new practices switching from their existing patient plan provider to Patient Plan Direct, and with our low admin fees of just £1.20 per patient per month, it’s easy to see why. With our support, the transfer process is really simple, so you’ll notice the savings almost straight away. Visit us at the Dentistry Show so that we can explain more!

3. Meet the whole team

If you’re already working with us, meeting up at the show gives us a chance to put faces to names and helps us make our service even more personalised to you. If you’re not already a customer then head over to stand B70 to see how lovely we all are!

4. Learn more about our A&E cover, including implant cover

Our patient payment plans offer worldwide Dental A&E cover, which includes implant cover as standard (all included for £1.20). Discover more about this great extra benefit by popping over to see us.

5. Practice-branded solutions

You’ve worked hard to build a brand for your dental practice, so why not strengthen that further through your own practice-branded patient payment plan? Talk to us at the Dentistry Show to find out how. Particularly, if you’re confused about your current providers branding changes…

6. Let us demonstrate

Our online admin management portal allows you to control your plan in real time 247 and is so easy to use that you’ll wonder why you didn’t switch over sooner. Don’t just take our word for it though, come and see for yourself on stand B70!

7. Tailored to you

There’s no one size fits all in dentistry, you know your patients and what will suit them best, which is why we can tailor the plans to suit your practice’s specific needs. We also aim to provide a personal approach to our customer service, through our training, practice visits and telephone support. Come over for a chat to find out how we can offer a bespoke service to suit you.

8. Grab a free coffee and chat

We love coffee, but we love sharing it even more, so pop over for a free cuppa and catch up with our team. Whether you already know us, or would like to get to know us, we’re looking forward to meeting you at the show.

See you soon!

In the mean time check out some of our success stories here http://patientplandirect.com/case-studies/

If you’re not heading to the show, you can always arrange a meeting with our friendly and experienced business development team at your practice at your convenience. Simply call or email us:

Tel: 08448486888

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

The Dentistry Show 2017 will see Ivoclar Vivadent UK & Ireland showcase their new brand, Ivoclar Digital, to the British market for the first time after it’s official launch at IDS, Cologne, in March.

Ivoclar Digital is the biggest development for the leading dental manufacturer of materials and equipment since the market-leading IPS e.max all-ceramic system was introduced to the dental industry over 10 years ago. The new digital products will provide dentists and dental technicians with state-of-the-art professional expertise throughout the entire digital process journey; assisting them with material selection and digital processes in the design and production of quality restorations, complemented with a wide range of additional services and customer support.

PrograMill One will make its debut as Ivoclar’s first chairside mill for dentists; it is the world’s smallest 5-axis milling machine, combining industrial manufacturing quality with high precision and modern design. In the innovative 5-axis turn-milling technique, the workpiece rotates around the tool at a constant feed and the tool never leaves the block, ensuring short milling times and minimal tool wear.

Various validated processing strategies are available for different materials and indications; the unit has been particularly developed for milling IPS e.max. The machine’s wireless capabilities allow it to be operated from any location with the help of a special app for tablets and smartphones and the optical status display shows the current status of the machine. PrograMill One is coordinated with the scanners and design solutions from 3Shape.

Ivoclar Vivadent’s technical stand for DTS is adjacent to the Dentistry Show stand; both will have numerous new and existing product demonstrations. Clinical and Technical stand visitors can also expect the most relevant product and material updates for dental and laboratory professionals, whilst also benefitting from the expert advice of our attending specialists.

The DentistryShow takes place on the 12^th & 13^th May, NEC,

You can find Ivoclar Vivadent Clinical at Stand No. F35,

Ivoclar Vivadent DTS Technical at Stand No. F28.

•       OUTSOURCED PRODUCTION – The Straumann® CARES® Centralised Milling facility operates as an extension of the modern laboratory, with state-of-the art equipment and validated workflows. There is a comprehensive range of products to choose from, including one-step restorations, customised abutments, screw-retained bridges and bars, copings, bridge frameworks as well as full contour crowns and bridges. Alongside this, Straumann offer a variety of materials including multiple glass ceramics, zirconia available in numerous shades and translucencies, cobalt chrome, titanium and polymers.

By adding an all-encompassing digital dimension to their portfolio Straumann have added a completely new vibe to their offering – they’re more than a dental implant company, they’re your digital solutions partner.

TOUR DATES

Audiences will be driven wild by the great product deals, insightful presentations and hands-on demonstrations on offer at the Straumann Digital Performance Tour. Plus, with exclusive backstage access to the live music and entertainment on offer, and after parties scheduled at selected locations, the Straumann Digital Performance Tour promises to be a must-attend event for any technician, CDT or clinician looking to enhance their digital offering in 2017 and beyond.

Don’t miss the opportunity to see these fantastic innovations at the Straumann Digital Performance Tour. FREE to attend places are limited - to book your place visit straumanndigitalperformance.co.uk, or visit Straumann at TDS / DTS on Stand B10 or call 01293 651230.

straumanndigitalperformance.co.uk

straumann.co.uk

therevu.co.uk

Facebook: Straumann UK Twitter: @StraumannUK #digitalperformancetour

Friday 28 July 2017 • Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE

UCL Eastman Dental Institute and partners invite you to join us for a ground breaking, one-day symposium in sport and exercise medicine and oral health. Expert speakers will explore:

·         State-of-the-art developments and future of sport nutrition (Dr Kevin Currell & Prof. Ron Maughan);

·         Sport nutrition and health (Dr Dan Kings);

·         Eating disorders & RED-S in athletes (Dr Anna Katarina Melin)

·         Oral health & sport performance (Prof. Ian Needleman, Dr Paul Ashley & Dr Julie Gallagher).

We will discuss how to maximise performance and minimise negative performance impacts. The symposium will be highly relevant to sport and exercise medicine clinicians and scientists, nutritionists, performance directors, dental care professionals and researchers. See the full schedule

Book your place: www.ucl.ac.uk/eastman

The Symposium will be held in collaboration with the NCSEM and ISEH who, together with the Centre for Oral Health and Performance, are collaborating members with the IOC.

Have you ever heard of AuctionWeb, BackRub or Blue Ribbon Sports? These are all fledgling start-ups that, at some point, rebranded so that today you know them as multinational giants eBay, Google and Nike respectively! It may sound extreme, but renaming your business can breathe new life into it.

Defining your brand is a critical first step in any marketing plan and it takes time and thought. Once you’ve done it, you might like to think that you’ll never have to repeat the exercise, but nothing lasts forever. There comes a time in every business’s life when the branding gets stale or outdated. Change might also be desirable due to a change in ownership or focus.

Several high-profile brands have gone through identity adjustments over the years. A less drastic solution than renaming is to merely modify your business name to freshen it up. A recent example is the Huffington Post that, following the departure of its founder, chose to rebrand as the snappier ‘Huffpost’. In other cases, the business name is fine as it is and all that’s needed is a new or reworked logo, as we’ve seen over the years from the likes of Apple and Coca Cola.

As with all change, there is risk, but also the potential for great rewards. The risk is that you’ll alienate some of your loyal client base. In dental practice this would likely mean your older patients who might be more averse to change. The rewards, however, can be plentiful, especially if you’re looking to attract new patients. The decision, therefore, has to take into account what your prime demographic is, based on your location and services, and what kind of change will either reel them in or send them packing.

In short, when you start to feel like your practice image could use a refresh, it’s time to take stock of where you are as a company, how you are seen in the community and where you want to go. The exercise is an excellent opportunity to check the pulse of your practice and make the changes necessary to give it a jumpstart. The first step is to engage a specialist marketing agency to help guide you through the process. If you choose the right one, they’ll give you an honest assessment of what you should keep, and what you should let go of, and then help you do just that.

Milkshake Dental Marketing is a leading provider of specialist dental marketing in the UK, so give us a call on 01844 292086, visit our website or connect with us on social media (@MilkshakeDental).

“I first heard about the IAS Academy at my local British Dental Association meeting, where Tif Qureshi did a presentation about the ClearSmile Inman Aligner,” says Dr Margaret de Verteuil, an Associate Dentist at Stedham House Dental Surgery in Surbiton.

“I was not only impressed with his enthusiasm and extensive experience offering ethical and safe anterior alignment orthodontic treatment, but with the fact that the guided learning pathway is geared towards GDPs.

“As such, I completed the ClearSmile Inman Aligner certification course in February 2016, the online ClearSmile Aligner course in March 2016, the IAS Ortho Restorative course in September 2016 and I have recently completed the ClearSmile Inman Aligner Advanced course.

“I have found the appliances easy to use, but being able to access guidance through the online support has been invaluable to my progress and I feel much more confident about recommending the treatment to my patients knowing I have help if I need it.

“Since completing the training I am also much more aware of lapsed orthodontic cases and the problems this can cause if left untreated.”

If you are interested in becoming a provider of an IAS Academy appliance, get in touch today.

For more information about upcoming training courses, please visit www.iasortho.com or call 0208 916 2024

When Jamal Johnston sold his practice, he utilised the services of Dental Elite.

“I am very happy with the outcome of the transaction,” he commented when asked about the process, “and though it took slightly longer than expected, it still only took nine months.

“During the sale my representative was Leah Turner, who was very proactive and worked closely with me throughout the process.”

When asked about the challenges that he faced, he said:

“Without a doubt the most challenging part of the sale was due diligence. Had everything gone smoothly the deal could have been completed far sooner than it did, but because there were a few hiccups, the process was dragged out longer than it needed to be.

“My advice would therefore be to make all the necessary preparations and to start collecting and organising the documentation required for the due diligence aspect of the sale, even before you consider putting it on the market.”

There are a great many facets to selling a dental practice, so to ensure that you’ve got everything covered, make sure you utilise the services of a reputable practice sales and valuations agency like Dental Elite.

For more information contact Dental Elite. Visit www.dentalelite.co.uk, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01788 545 900

If you want to acquire a reputation for providing the best tooth whitening, then you should be using products from Enlighten.

With a 98 per cent success rate to VITA B1, Enlighten products are the profession’s only option for a guaranteed whiter smile.

Demonstrably safe, Enlighten products utilise materials that have been in use in dentistry for over 100 years – however, if patients do experience any sensitivity, Enlighten also provides desensitising swabs and special Tooth Serum toothpaste to ensure patients are as comfortable as possible throughout the treatment

This attention to detail can make all the difference in your practice. By using Enlighten products, your patients will know that you are providing them with the very best. They know that at the end of their treatment, they will have the smile they have always wanted – and if you have the reputation for being able to provide this kind of service, there will be no end to the benefits!

To offer your patients the very best options possible, offer them Enlighten whitening.

For more information, visit www.enlightensmiles.com, email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call the team on 0207 424 3270

Dr Shubham Mittal, a senior partner of Clifton Moor Dental Centre uses the ONE COAT 7 UNIVERSAL one-component bonding agent from COLTENE and says, “It is a very good all in one bonding system.”

“Whether I need to use the Self-Etch technique, Total-Etch or Selective-Etch, I can rely on ONE COAT 7 UNIVERSAL to provide effective bonding to a number of materials, including gold, titanium, ceramic, zirconium oxide and composite. For me, having that level of freedom and flexibility has been invaluable to my restorative work.

“If, for instance, I needed to treat a hypersensitive tooth, I know that I could apply the bond with the Self-Etch technique and it would work like a dream with no sensitivity whatsoever.

“With the same product, I could also get a good bond on a non-vital tooth using Total-Etch – there really is no limit as to how the ONE COAT 7 UNIVERSAL can be used.

“As such, I would definitely recommend to other practitioners, especially those that are already using other COLTENE products.”

For more information contact COLTENE – one of the UK’s leading providers of quality restorative products.   

To find out more visit www.coltene.com, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01444 235486

A-dec UK understands that in order to provide its clients with the best possible service, they need to have a strong, dedicated team that fully understands the dental sector and the products professionals need to practise exemplary dentistry.

With many years’ combined experience, the A-dec UK sales team meets all of these needs. Including Nick Olive (Territory Manager for South West England & South Wales), John Timson (Territory Manager for Central & Northern England), Justin Hind (Territory Manager for London and the South East) and Christopher Cox (Sales & Marketing Manager), the team strives to provide a service to the country’s dentists and dealers that is second-to-none.

Each member of the team has spent time at the A-dec head office in Newberg, Oregon USA, undertaking in-depth training for all A-dec products, ensuring they are fully up-to-date with the complete range of A-dec equipment that dental professionals in the UK favour. This technical training allows the sales team to discuss the ergonomic benefits of the A-dec range and how this can be best utilised in-practice to benefit both the dentist and the patient on a daily basis, as well as how to best maintain all equipment for optimum use and longevity.

Indeed, A-dec’s renowned product range of dental chairs, stools and other equipment solutions has been precisely designed to offer high standards of functionality and reliability, and there is no one more qualified to talk to dental professionals about the benefits of the wide range of A-dec products than the sales team.

Alongside this, their extensive experience in the dental sector allows the A-dec UK sales team to offer detailed ergonomic assessments to dentists, including advice about organising their workspaces and simplifying work-motion economy in order to boost productivity in surgery and improve workplace efficacy.

What’s more, the team has worked hard to develop a strong relationship with the UK’s most trusted dealers, and they work closely with some of the country’s best dental companies to provide a complete service that allows dentists to equip themselves with the products they need to practise the way they want.

But what really makes the A-dec UK team stand out from the competition, is their dedication to the dental profession and the pride they take in their work. A-dec has a long history of working closely with dentists to develop better solutions and encourage better dentistry, and the UK sales team epitomises this in their approach.

If you want to talk to the A-dec UK sales team directly, you can contact them here:

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

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

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

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

They look forward to helping you.

For more information about A-dec Dental UK Ltd, visit

www.a-dec.co.uk or call on 0800 2332 85

GDPUK.com is for dentists and dental professionals to discuss all aspects of their profession, their practice and their business, centred on the UK. Subjects dissected have been diverse, from tips on simple techniques to guidance on buying major equipment, to discussions on the various practice management software packages, and of ongoing developments in British dental politics.

Established since 1997.

Moderated in Manchester, England by Dr Tony Jacobs BDS, the Group was started in Summer 1997, and continues to grow rapidly. Tony continues to work in his family general dental practice in Manchester.

Dental News

GDPUK.com also publishes UK dental news, and has had many exclusive stories, as well as being able to publish the latest news relevant to dentistry before other dental news providers. Latest news.

Blogs

In addition GDPUK blogs, both editorial and product updates are well read throughout the dental profession and industry. Latest blogs here.

GDPUK Forum

The group now has over 10,000 members, and attracts interest and sponsorship from major companies involved in the dental trade. The forum has had over 22,000 topics created and over 254,000 replies. That is 11.5 replies for every thread created! A huge amount of content and information.

Joining the Forum

The site remains free to join for all members of the dental profession. Register here.

Advertising

Advertisers can look forward to their banners being displayed thousands of times in a verified manner, using professional banner server software, to a targeted group of UK dental professionals.

Media Pack

Revenue is generated on the site by companies in the Dental trade, advertising on the site. More information about what GDPUK can offer our advertisers, can be found in our latest media pack. Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the latest media pack.

Further Information

For further information on what GDPUK can offer, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Jonny will be attending both the upcoming Dentistry Show and BDA Show, get in touch if you would like to arrange to meet up.

20 Years of GDPUK

The site was established in 1997 and this year marks the 20th year anniversary of dentists talking to each other using the GDPUK medium. To mark the occasion we will be hosting a conference on Friday 17th November in Manchester. More details to follow.

20th Anniversary Publication.

We are currently putting together a publication that will be published in digital form in November 2017 around the time of the conference. If you would like to contribute to this please get in touch. We will also have advertising opportunities available at the conference and in the publication. For further information, please get in touch.

“The developments of the NobelClinician™ system for diagnostics and treatment planning have been absolutely superb throughout the last decade, particularly with regards to the smart fusion techniques,” says Dr Sharif Khan from Rockingham House Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry in West Yorkshire. “I have also been impressed by the rapid treatment protocols that can be used to minimise treatment times, as this is something modern patients are concerned about.”

With its Smart Fusion technology, NobelClinician™ combines 3D imagery of anatomical structures with soft tissue information from optical scans for superior visualisation, diagnostics and treatment planning.

Like all solutions from Nobel Biocare, the NobelClinician™ software is supported by a wealth of clinical studies.

For example, it is possible to accurately assess the available bone volume and this has been found to enhance predictability of treatment.

The bone volume can also be properly optimised by matching the implant design and drilling sequence to the bone quality for increased primary stability.

What’s more, virtual planning and communication with NobelClinician™ has been linked with higher treatment acceptance and better patient satisfaction with care and treatment outcomes.

So to make the most of technologies you can trust to improve your diagnostics, treatment planning and treatment outcomes, contact Nobel Biocare today.

For more information, contact Nobel Biocare on 0208 756 3300, or visit www.nobelbiocare.com

[1] Pozzi A, Sannino G, Barlattani A. Minimally invasive treatment of the atrophic posterior maxilla: a proof-of-concept prospective study with a follow-up of between 36 and 54 months. J Prosthet Dent 2012;108(5):286-97. 


[1] Scotti R, Pellegrino G, Marchetti C, Corinaldesi G, Ciocca L. Diagnostic value of NobelGuide to minimize the need for reconstructive surgery of jaws before implant placement: a review. Quintessence Int 2010;41(10):809-14.

[1] Katsoulis J, Enkling N, Takeichi T, Urban IA, Mericske-Stern R, Avrampou M. Relative bone width of the edentulous maxillary ridge. Clinical implications of digital assessment in presurgical implant planning. Clin Implant Dent Relat Res. 2012;14(Suppl 1):e213-23.

[1] Katsoulis J, Pazera P, Mericske-Stern R. Prosthetically Driven, Computer-Guided Implant Planning for the Edentulous Maxilla: A Model Study. Clin Implant Dent Relat Res 2009;11(3):238-245.

[1] Schnitman PA, Hayashi C, Han RK. Why guided when freehand is easier, quicker, and less costly? J Oral Implantol. 2014;40(6):670-8. 


[1] Imburgia M. Patient and team communication in the iPad era - a practical appraisal. Int J Esthet Dent 2014;9(1):26-39.

[1] Imburgia M, Coachman C. Using digital devices to improve communications between clinicians and patients during implantprosthetic treatment: a clinical study [#519]. 23rd Annual Scienti c Meeting of the European Association for Osseointegration. Rome, Italy: Wiley; 2014. p. 538. 

Renowned for its unique approach to recruitment, Accountancy Elite (a branch of specialist agency Dental Elite) is one of the leading recruiters for accountancy and finance in the Midlands area.

“I’ve used a few agencies throughout my career, but the service that I received from Accountancy Elite was by far the best I’ve ever had,” says Zuzana Juhasova, a client that was recently placed into a senior payroll administrator position.

“From start to finish, my representative (Matt Sweeney) was very helpful, approachable, contactable and accommodating – it really was a five star service.

“Plus, he kept me up to date every step of the way during the interview process, and even helped to negotiate my contract once I had been offered the job.

“I would definitely recommend Accountancy Elite to others.”

Are you looking for a role in accountancy or finance? Then get in touch with the team today.

For more information please call 01788 422186, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.accountancyelite.co.uk

Enlighten, the only whitening service that can truly guarantee a whiter smile, is going one step further to improve the standard of UK tooth whitening.

With it’s exciting new Regional Centres of Excellence scheme, Enlighten is giving aspiring UK practices the chance to become the go-to tooth whitening expert in your area. By offering access to Enlighten’s own extensive network of contacts and marketers, member practices will be put on the map – and enjoy increased numbers of patients as a result.

What’s more, the Enlighten team will be on hand to provide exclusive in-practice training to ensure that your staff knows exactly what is involved in the tooth whitening process. As such, your team will become one of the most useful sources of promotion, able to answer any of your patients’ queries with ease.

The Enlighten team will also offer expert marketing assistance, to ensure that your practice becomes known for excellent service and guaranteed results.

Membership to this business-changing initiative is limited, depending on regional interest and uptake, so ensure you contact the Enlighten team as soon as possible to register your interest and take the first steps towards becoming a Regional Centre of Excellence.

For more information, visit www.enlightensmiles.com, email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call the team on 0207 424 3270

For over 30 years CEREC® from Dentsply Sirona has provided a comprehensive and proven digital system for delivering restorations in a single visit. Now its applications are expanding and guided placement, restoration of implants and a variety of orthodontic solutions are also covered by this versatile system.

Offering clinicians even greater flexibility, the CEREC system has been opened up for the export of scan data in STL format. This creates new possibilities for clinicians by enabling data from CEREC digital impressions to be used in software products from other manufacturers, and allows them to send CEREC scans to a laboratory of their choice regardless of the software being used. Scan data can also be loaded into implant planning software from other manufacturers, providing clinicians with support in the preparation of implant procedures.

To find out more please contact Dentsply Sirona on 0800 072 3313 or visit www.dentsply.com/en-uk

Jaswinder Gill, Principal of Moonlight Dental Surgery, has been offering anterior alignment orthodontics since 2012. He enrolled on the 12-month IAS Advanced training course in 2015 and says:

“I was looking to take my skills to the next level so I could provide comprehensive orthodontics to adults and children who have been refused by the NHS. There are very few courses out there that offer this for GDPs, but the IAS Advanced came highly recommended.

“I had no idea what to expect, but training covered everything I wanted it to and more. I particularly liked that I could start comprehensive cases from day one, being mentored by Ross Hobson, a Specialist Orthodontist.

“The course was excellent – there is no other word for it. Ross is a brilliant teacher and mentor.

“I have absolutely gained confidence in my skills and I am now doing cases that I would have definitely referred this time last year.

“If you want to progress your orthodontic career as a GDP, then this is the course to do. It entails a lot of hard work and is not a walk in the park, but if orthodontics is your thing then it is thoroughly enjoyable and worth while.”

For more information on upcoming IAS Academy training courses, including the IAS Advanced,

please visit www.iasortho.com or call 0208 916 2024.

In support of soft tissue management

Johnson & Johnson, the makers of LISTERINE®, are delighted to present Professor Nicola West speaking on the topic of soft tissue management at this year’s BDA conference.

Professor West, Head of Periodontology, Professor and Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at the University of Bristol, will cover topics including managing the soft tissue health of your patients now, securing their future health, and delivering this within the constraints and demands of running a successful dental practice.

Delegates may attend Professor West’s presentation on Thursday 25th May at 14.15-15.15 or Friday 26th May at 11.45-12.45.

Johnson & Johnson are the makers of LISTERINE®, which has variants that are suitable for daily use as an adjunct to mechanical cleaning to help deliver an optimised daily prevention regimen. In addition the LISTERINE® Advanced Defence range is available to help dental professionals deliver advanced treatment outcomes for patients.

For further information, please visit stand C13 to speak to a member of the LISTERINE® Professional team.

The Association of Dental Groups (ADG) is delighted to announce that Teeth Team has been awarded the first ever Outstanding Innovation Award from the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). “On behalf of the Association, I would like to congratulate Teeth Team on winning such a prestigious accolade – it is richly deserved,” comments David Worskett, Chair of the ADG.

Teeth Team provides a supervised daily tooth brushing programme, annual dental assessments and bi-annual applications of fluoride varnish to a number of nursery and primary schools. Originally delivering its programme within the City of Hull and East Riding areas, Teeth Team has expanded into North Yorkshire, Nottingham North, South Humberside and parts of Lincolnshire, with plans to expand further with the help of its excellent support network and various partners.

“As ever, our aim is to continue to set up and provide oral health care to as many children in disadvantaged regions as we can,” says Chris Groombridge (pictured below), Teeth Team’s Chair of Trustees. “I’m hoping that in obtaining this award, of which we are thrilled to have won, we will be able to extend our reach further still and make a difference to even more young lives.”

Described as an ‘excellent project’ and ‘clear winner’ by the BSPD Executive judging team, Teeth Team is a fine example of what can be achieved when a proactive and practical approach is taken on ground level. “In the case of children’s oral health, it is absolutely essential to go straight to the source,” Chris continues, “For it is action that will have an impact on children, not words.”

In recognition of its achievement, Teeth Team has been invited to make a presentation about its exceptional work at the upcoming Annual Conference and Scientific Meeting in September. “It is an absolute honour and a privilege to be given the opportunity to speak at such a prestigious event,” says Chris. “We love nothing more than to spread the word about what the charity delivers – we would shout it from the rooftops if we could – so it will be a great experience for everyone involved in Teeth Team.”

On the presentation David Worskett adds: “We look forward to Teeth Team’s presentation at BSPD’s 2017 conference, and wish the charity all the best with their work moving forward.”

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

The film was ‘Field of Dreams’ and, in it, an American corn farmer hears a voice telling him, “If you build it, he will come.” You may not have seen, or remember, the film, but the quote has morphed into popular culture, albeit in a changed form. “If you build it, they will come’ became a global catch phrase that is still repeated, even when it patently does not apply.

It may have worked a treat to entice the ghosts of deceased baseball stars to a cornfield in the film, but when it comes to growing your business it’s utter rubbish. And dangerous rubbish at that. You know you need a great website as the cornerstone of your marketing, but if you expect to ‘build it and they will come’, you’ll be left sitting staring at the phones, wondering why they’re not ringing.

Sure, in the early days of the internet, this approach would have worked, because there simply weren’t that many websites online. As things progressed, search engine optimisation (SEO) developed to help users find your website, and designers performed a cursory SEO sweep on sites prior to launch. However today, with over 1 billion websites on the web, even this isn’t good enough to get you found.

Today, good web designers incorporate SEO best practices into their designs from the start, giving you the best of function without sacrificing form. This should, at a minimum, include ensuring your site is fully-responsive and your content is optimised. But to help you truly stand out from the crowd, your marketing team should also be performing regular search engine elevation (SEE). This is an ongoing process of strategically refreshing your content to focus on keywords that highlight your chosen campaigns. Search engines love it, which means they’ll lift your site to the top of the search results.

Milkshake Dental Marketing is the only agency in the world to offer SEE, so put us to work for you by giving us a call on 01844 292086, visiting our website or connecting with us on social media (@MilkshakeDental).

We’ll ‘build it to make sure they come’!

In a 2014 study commissioned by Brand Science and Microsoft, the study shows that not only does online advertising deliver excellent ROI efficiency, but it also provides extra value to your other spend in the media. Can be read here [PDF].

In basic terms the report shows that the difference in ROI is striking when a campaign has an online element against those that do not have any online element. When online advertising is added into the mix, the return on investment is much improved.

From a dental point of view, this means that when a brand sponsors an event or runs a conference for their clients, the marketing campaign needs to cover all mediums.

Over recent years, this is the way the online marketing world has evolved. Brands within dentistry have been hesitant to spend all their budget on online marketing but will often use some of their budget online, to compliment campaigns in magazines, events they are hosting or to promote attendance at an exhibition.

Businesses can see that they need coverage across all mediums, their customers are constantly using and sharing digital content and therefore digital is becoming as important as non-digital channels when looking to achieve maximum ROI on their marketing spend.

Therefore, digital is certainly important in the marketing cycle and plays a part in helping produce results from non-digital media channels. This is another reason that online marketing is here to stay. 

Balraj Sekhon discusses the benefits of guided surgery to deliver predictable treatment outcomes

Although implant dentistry has evolved into one of the most predictable treatment alternatives for patients who are missing teeth, we are still striving to improve our surgical and restorative techniques. The foundation for all procedures should be a proper diagnosis to determine the appropriate treatment options.

To help take the guesswork out of the diagnostic phase the use of 3D imaging (CBCT) with interactive treatment planning software, such as coDiagnostiX™, aids the planning of implant placement, the design of surgical drill guides and the ultimate restoration. I have found that by incorporating a digital implant planning system and working closely with a lab who offer CAD/CAM production, I benefit from well-designed surgical drill guides and high-quality implant-borne restorations. This in turn, reduces complications and enhances the communication within the interdisciplinary team.

The use of CBCT and coDiagnostiX™ has greatly impacted my ability to diagnose in all dimensions, allowing a full appreciation of individual, patient-specific anatomy and a clear understanding of the existing quantity and quality of bone, trajectory of the alveolus, and location of vital structures. It also serves as a powerful communication tool for patients, colleagues, and with my lab of choice.

Digital workflow for implants
The ideal for me is to achieve prosthetically driven implant reconstruction. To achieve this, I need a complete understanding of the relationship between the tooth and the underlying bone. In addition, proper diagnosis may require working closely with a lab to create ‘virtual’ diagnostic wax-ups of the surgical guide and the proposed final restoration, allowing adjustments to be made to achieve the best possible outcome. Therefore, “it’s not the scan, it’s the plan” that becomes my driving force.

The coDiagnostiX™ system offers many options for diagnosis, consultation and seamless workflow integration. Virtual implants of known length and diameter can be simulated within the receptor site, establishing the proper trajectory of the implant within the cross-sectional image and in relation to the desired restorative option (i.e. screw- or cement-retained). Using advanced software features and the process of segmentation, the existing tooth root can be virtually extracted and the proposed implant with an abutment projection can then be positioned to emerge through the desired restorative result.

Balraj Sekhon - BDS (Manc), MJDF RCS (Lond), PGCert (UCLan), MSc Dental Implantology (Distinction)
Balraj graduated from the University of Manchester in 2003 and has since worked throughout Manchester providing the highest quality dental care. He is one of the principal dentists at Circle Dental. Balraj’s ethos is to treat every patient with the utmost care and provide the best evidence-based dentistry.

Since qualification he has been spent many hours learning from the best dentists in the country in the fields of restorative and implant dentistry. He has acquired the Diploma of Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties from the Royal College of Surgeons and a Masters Degree in Dental Implantology with Distinction from the University of Central Lancashire. Balraj is also a published author in the Journal of Operative Dentistry.

Balraj has studied dental implantology to the highest possible standard and currently works with a Yorkshire-based surgical team with Specialist surgeon, Dr Robert Dyas. He has a growing referral network of practices and has also managed problems encountered by other dentists. He has a keen interest in teaching and this has been recognised by his appointment as Educational Supervisor by the Northwest NHS Deanery.

For more information on case planning and guided surgery, contact Straumann on 01293 651230 or visit one of our sites:

straumann.co.uk
straumanndigitalperformance.co.uk
therevu.co.uk

Facebook: Straumann UK
Twitter: @StraumannUK

I’m Abeyna Jones -  the Co-Founder of Medic Footprints. (pictured above)

With a background of drastic career changes moving to South Africa (& back), switching from surgery to Occupational Medicine, and also working out how to manage my own various health problems along the way - I realised that my journey was not so unique, yet the topics were still relatively taboo amongst our profession.

Hence, having created Medic Footprints in 2014, I’m proud to say we’ve grown to a community of >10k.

We are now looking to expand further with the aim to support all medical professionals needing independent support networks focusing on career change and wellbeing.

Who Are We?

Medic Footprints seeks to provide medical professionals with the tools and resources to explore alternative careers in a supportive wellness environment.

We are a social enterprise for doctors, by doctors.

Are we encouraging doctors to leave medicine or dentistry? We’re not. But, we are encouraging doctors to explore their career options beyond the conventional confines of a hospital or clinic.

We help with providing ideas of what options there are out there for doctors and what sort of plan should be made, remembering that a doctor’s career doesn’t have to be in medicine.

What We Do.

Our mission statement is as follows:

• Raise the visibility of the wealth of careers available to doctors, beyond traditional medicine,

• Promote bespoke wellbeing initiatives for doctors

• Support doctors in achieving their true career potentials by developing invaluable skills beyond their clinical practice, essential for great medical leaders in any domain.

We organise and promote events in medicine, entrepreneurship and business and encourage doctors to reach out. A growing number of medical professionals are burnt out and exhausted from their stressful and tiring jobs - we are here to support exactly those people and build strong, meaningful networks of like-minded doctors.

Doctors tend to possess strong transferable skillsets, a passion for helping people and business minds, and we encourage these to be developed, explored and nurtured.

How you can get involved in our community?

Visit our website - medicfootprints.org - a huge free resource of information regarding career change for medical professionals

Join our free membership for updates on events, and activities. Our next event is a workshop about  Succeeding as a Medic in Business on 22nd April 2017 at the London Business School.

Write for us - we welcome contributions of all kinds in the world of alternative careers and wellbeing

Save the date for 27/8 Oct 2017 - our third annual extravaganza of alternative careers. Not your average conference!

Leianna Minty from Dental Inspirations discusses her experience of changing plan provider from Denplan to Patient Plan Direct

I joined the reception team at Dental Inspirations in 2011 when the decision had just been made to switch plan provider in order to cut administration fees and make operational cost savings. As such, one of my first tasks was to handle this transition. Whilst I had some knowledge of our dental plan, I had no experience of carrying out a move from one provider to another, but I have to say that Patient Plan Direct made the process very simple indeed.

Handling the move

We were given clear, concise and to the point training on what to say to patients and how to explain the move, which made us all feel confident in what we were doing and made the switch seamless. This left us with no uncertainty or any windows of mystery, meaning that the task was pretty simple really.

Of course, switching plan providers involved some effort from our side, but we have a good team in our practice so it was more than manageable. If you are concerned that there will be a lot of work involved in switching plan provider, my advice is not to worry. We simply sent out letters to patients explaining the move and the long term benefit to them as well as the practice and they signed new direct debit mandates under our new practice-branded plan at their next appointments. This is a process Patient Plan Direct now fully manages on behalf of practices, making the process even easier than when we made the move six years ago. There are a range of options of how Patient Plan Direct can manage the transition to best suit your practice and patient relationships.

The team at Patient Plan Direct offer so much support and it really helps that I deal with the same people every time I have an enquiry. The client support team explain things very well and as a practice we've built up a relationship with them, as well as our dedicated business development manager – Carole. The Patient Plan Direct team feel like an extended part of the Dental Inspirations team.

When new team members join our practice there are no problems at all getting them up to speed with our dental plans and the Patient Plan Direct system because its so simple, but if they have any questions it's just a case of phoning Patient Plan Direct who take the time to explain everything or come in practice to deliver training.

Whilst any issues or queries are few and far between, as soon as anything is flagged, Patient Plan Direct resolve things very quickly. In fact, in my role I have to deal with a lot of different companies and suppliers and I have to say that Patient Plan Direct cause me the least stress out of all of them, they are a pleasure to work with.

Benefits for everyone

For us, alongside huge cost savings versus the administration fees we were charged by our previous plan provider, another big benefit of the move is the fact that we now handle patient enquiries in our own practice, rather than them having to contact a third party. This means we can offer a much more personal service that our patients really appreciate, while we also have more control over the way things are handled and subsequently monitored. Plus, Patient Plan Direct’s service seems to continually improve. For example they have enhanced their supplementary Worldwide Dental A&E cover for patients twice in the past couple of years, benefiting our existing plan patients and making our plans even more attractive for any patients not already on plan.

As a practice, the benefits of switching plan provider were very clear; in the long-term we would be able to offer our patients a lower cost, more affordable, practice-branded plan without running at a loss ourselves thanks to a lower admin fee that we incur as a practice. We're simply offering an almost identical product without having to pay for the big name brand.

What we've found six years on since the move is that the plans we now offer for any new patients sell themselves because the price point is so good, patients ask us about our plans and all we need to do is sign them up. I didn't want my reception team to feel like they were in a sales role, that's not what we're about at Dental Inspirations, and I really like that our staff don't feel pressurised to sell.

Leianna's advice

If you're unhappy with your existing plan provider, or you’re looking for ways to save money for the practice and your patients, I would 100% recommend Patient Plan Direct due to the high level of support they provide and the tailored plans they create to suit your practice. Switching over really isn't as scary as it might initially seem, my advice is to overcome that fear! At Dental Inspirations we have no regrets. Patient retention during the transition from our previous plan provider was very high and we are constantly adding new patients to our plans all the time.

Leianna Minty is the practice manager at Dental Inspirations in Aberdeen, providing the highest quality dentistry in a caring, relaxed and professional environment.

Patient Plan Direct offers a low cost, simple, flexible and practice-branded solution to running patient payment plans, with a focus on delivering first-class support and expert advice to ensure you reach your plan objectives. For more information please visit www.patientplandirect.com, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or call 0844 848 6888.

Simplyhealth is delighted to announce today that it is investing £137k into Teeth Team, a nationally-recognised, award-winning child oral health improvement programme.

Teeth Team, which was set up in 2010 in Hull, works to improve the oral health of children in socially deprived communities. The investment from Simplyhealth will enable Teeth Team to continue its work and roll out its programme to an additional 50 schools in 2017. In addition, Simplyhealth Professionals and its member dentists will be proactively involved in delivering the programme as it expands.

With charitable giving at the heart of the healthcare organisation, Simplyhealth is passionate about supporting charities and organisations that are focused on making a difference to the everyday health of people.

In the last two years, Teeth Team has recorded a reduction of 19.8% in local children experiencing dental extractions under general anaesthetic. The oral health survey for five-year-old children 2014-15 in Hull, carried out by Public Health England Survey (DPH), recorded an improvement from 43.4% to 37.8%.

Chris Groombridge, Chair of Trustees for Teeth Team, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this momentous support and investment from Simplyhealth to our charity. To be working in partnership on this level means that moving forward we can expand the programme into scores of new schools in other areas of need and continue to make a real different in child oral health.

“What is important about this partnership is that it’s not just financial – it is a commitment to the charity on other levels and grows our network of support as we push to take this essential programme national.”

Last month Teeth Team won the Outstanding Innovation Award 2017 from the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). The programme was described as “excellent” and a “clear winner” by the BSPD Executive judges and as the prize the charity will present to the Annual Conference and Scientific meeting to be held in Manchester in September.

Henry Clover, Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “We are incredibly excited about being involved with Teeth Team. Simplyhealth Professionals is ideally placed to provide practical, proactive support through our member dentists, some of whom will have the opportunity to visit these schools and help children understand the importance of preventive oral health care through the Teeth Team programme.”

Simplyhealth has pledged to donate 10% of pre-tax profits to health-related charitable causes in 2017. Roger Cotton, Head of Charitable Giving at Simplyhealth, said: “This programme presents a great opportunity to provide hard evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of the ‘prevention’ approach to better oral health amongst the five- to nine-year-old age group. In the longer-term, we also hope that the accumulating evidence as the project expands can be used to lobby government and encourage it to divert a percentage of the savings realised by Teeth Team for the NHS to help fund further expansion of the project to other areas and schools.”

For more information about Teeth Team, please contact:

Emma Ideson, Teeth Team Press Officer

T: 07976 512340 E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. W: www.teethteam.org.uk

Teeth Team, 543-549 Anlaby Road, Hull, HU3 6HP

Dental Showcase Is Back……And Is Bigger Than Ever!

Technology is constantly evolving and chances are it will have been a few years since you invested in new equipment for the practice.  Your existing tools might be working just fine, and may not ever become obsolete, but aren’t you just a teeny weeny bit intrigued to find out just what’s out there and how it might assist you in your day-to-day work?  At this year’s Dental Showcase you really will gain an insight into the latest innovation in the industry.

Could New ‘Gear’ Move Your Practice ‘Up A Gear’?

To use a common analogy, if you’ve looked after your iPhone 4 it will still be perfectly functional and you may be perfectly happy with it, but what if you had an iPhone 7 in your hand and could see the advanced camera, hear the improved audio, feel the streamlined shape and learn about the better battery life not to mention the fact that it was water resistant!  Well, at Dental Showcase you have the opportunity to see, hear, feel and learn about all that’s new in dentistry.  Moreover, as everything is under one roof you can comfortably do it all in a day, and earn yourself some valuable CPD in the process.

Tomorrow’s World

New to this year’s Dental Showcase will be the Dental Surgery of The Future.  Purpose built for the show it will include a reception area, built to the highest specification, a patient information zone and a fully functioning surgery, equipped with only the very latest technology.  The futuristic surgery will have seating, so that delegates can relax during keynote speeches and demonstrations.  As well as learning about what’s new in the industry, you will also be able to listen to talks on topics such as handling medical emergencies, 3D printing, business management matters and IRMER guidelines.  Delegates will, of course, have the opportunity to play with all the new gadgets and gizmos in the surgery!

Education….The Passport To The Future

Once you’ve done a little ‘window shopping’ or maybe even bagged yourself an exclusive Showcase bargain, you might like to spend some time freshening up your CPD.  The latest clinical content, delivered by the biggest names in the academic community, will be presented at the Dental Update Theatre.  The programme, which will be chaired by the charismatic but also very pragmatic Professor Trevor Burke, will give you an unrivalled insight into the latest research.  The scope of the programme will be wide, but common to all presentations will be the need to provide you with education, which you will be able to apply within your practice.  Dental Update firmly believes that their lectures should focus on matters that impact the day-to-day lives of practices up and down the country.  Priority entry will be given to Dental Update subscribers.

Further Information can be found on - www.dentalshowcase.com

Dental Showcase

-          Dates – 19-21 October 2017

-          Venue – Birmingham NEC

-          Exclusively Featuring:

o   The Surgery of the Future

o   Dental Update Theatre

For more information on this release please contact:

Michelle Hurd, AB Communications, Tel: (020) 8399 6730, E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In Part 9 of this series, we take a look at engagement and the number of options we have to engage with potential customers. 

Online advertising lets you know a customer's exact level of engagement. You can see how many impressions and clicks an ad has and where the ad has been clicked. This again gives you the marketer, a lot more information than ever before.

Although the click to a landing page is a form of interaction and engagement, the measure of engagement is often based on other criteria and seen as a compliment or an alternative to measuring the traditional click which has been historically the first form of engagement taken into account. So this means this could be via content, ads or audience interaction.

You therefore can see what has been effective for your product or brand in achieving engagement; comments, impressions, shares, recommendations, social media, contact forms, competition entries etc

You might have circulation and readership data for a print publication, but you can’t know how much time customers spend interacting with your ad, how much time they spent on your website, if they researched more of your products, and whether that ad led to conversions. In fact, with print it is impossible to even see if someone has seen the ad in the magazine. Print advertising is often just following the old adage of “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” (John Wanamaker (1838-1922) At least with online ads, you get to see how much engagement there has been.

An online presence gives you all of a whole range of valuable data and places you in a position to learn where your most engaged prospects live, work or interact. With a bit of research you can find out where your potential customers congregate, whether that is a forum, social media or a marketplace like Amazon or Ebay.

This access to data means you can start to reach people where they are most engaged and where they are genuinely interested in receiving your message.

When using social media, online ad engagement can then be used for engagement retargeting, which is now used by all major retailers and marketplace sites.

To summarise this part  of the series, online advertising has all the right skills not only to attract your potential customers but to get them properly engaged and totally involved in what product or service you are looking to offer. Online advertising opens a world or opportunity and options to get your client engaged within your story.