Dental News Briefing - Mandatory Vaccinations – Smile Direct Pandemic Profits ‘Hit’ – Dentistry For Homeless – Former NHS CEO Maiden Speech
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- Published: Friday, 10 December 2021 10:03
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The latest oral health update from England’s Chief Dental Officer has reiterated that individuals undertaking CQC regulated activities in England must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than 1 April 2022.
Dr Sara Hurley’s update said the vaccination was “To protect patients, regardless of their employer, including secondary and primary care. The regulations will apply equally across the public (NHS) and independent health sector.”
Earlier this week, NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to all dental practices with guidance on how providers can prepare and plan for the introduction of the vaccination regulations, which will affect both NHS and private dental practices.
The guidance said that holding one-to-one conversations in phase 1 of the staff vaccination programme was associated with an increased uptake by 10%.
“It is vital that we continue to drive up vaccination by engaging in meaningful conversations with unvaccinated staff to minimise the potential impact of COVID across the healthcare service,” the guidance said.
Smile Direct Club Profits Are Down
The Dental Tribune has reported that profits of the direct-to-consumer orthodontic appliance company Smile Direct have declined as a result of the pandemic.
The company’s results slumped in the third quarter the Dental Tribune said, with that the revenues declining by 18.3%. The website reported that shipments of the company’s aligners went down to 69,906 in the third quarter, compared to 90,000 in the second quarter.
The Dental Tribune reported “Speaking to analysts in November, David Katzman, CEO and chairman of SDC, described the company’s patients as those who “historically could not afford the $5,000 to $8,000 [€4,400 to €7,000] price tag for clear aligners. From day one, these customers have been a massive tailwind to our business in the Americas and rest of the world.”
“Katzman explained, however, that the company’s core demographic—which has a median household income of $68,000—has struggled financially during the pandemic and was tending not to spend money on tooth straightening. He said that a combination of factors was constraining the demographic’s spending, including rising inflation, underemployment and a struggle to pay household expenses.”
Portsmouth Dental Outreach Programme
The University of Portsmouth’s Dental Academy has been offering dozens of the city’s homeless free dental care, this month.
The Hampshire and Portsmouth edition of About My Area said the Dental Academy has teamed up with the university’s Eye Clinic to “Offer free dentistry, eye tests and prescription glasses to anyone living rough.”
“The University is believed to be the first to offer a collaborative dental and eye clinic service to the homeless population,” About My Area said.
The website reported that there are an estimated 100-plus homeless people in the region.
About My Area said that clinical teaching fellow Janani Sivabalan devised the scheme.
She told the website “We knew from an outreach activity with the homeless run by our students before the pandemic that there was a huge need for routine dental care among the city’s homeless population, but when we opened our doors for follow-up treatment, only a tiny handful turned up.”
“I wanted to try and see if we could better understand the barriers these people face in accessing dental care, so we could help more people.”
Maiden Speech
Lord Stevens of Birmingham, the former Chief Executive of NHS England made his maiden speech in the House of Lords this week. Lord Stevens retired from his NHS England post in July of 2021.
In his speech during a debate on the Health and Care Bill, Lord Stevens briefly addressed the Government’s proposals to introduce centralised fluoridation.
“I welcome this move towards dental decay prevention. I should declare an interest on the part of my teeth, in that I happen to have had the good fortune to have been born in Birmingham just a few years after that great city introduced fluoridation.”
“If the whole country now follows its lead, we have the potential to halve the dental decay of children in the poorest communities.”
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