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New Coalition Government To Review Its Dental Inheritance

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:40:15 +0000

The new dentistry minister (the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health with responsibility for dentistry) has confirmed that the government will review the details of the NHS dental system which was inherited from the previous government. Mr Howe also confirmed that the government’s proposed reforms will be declared once they have talked to the profession and patient groups. His comments were said during the Queen’s Speech Debate in the House of Lords, in response to a speech by Lord Colwyn, a dental surgeon and Conservative Peer. Lord Colwyn spoke of dentistry as being at ‘another crossroads’. He said that the decisions made in this Parliament to transform the delivery of NHS dentistry will be “extremely important. We have been left with an unfinished reform following the 2009 Steele review. We must grasp this opportunity if we are to improve the oral health of the nation”. Lord Colwyn, who is also an officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dentistry (to which the BDA is elected secretariat), said that the challenge of reforming dentistry—to deliver a better system both for patients and dentists— comes at a time when tough financial decisions are to be made across all Whitehall departments. He also welcomed the coalition government’s commitment in their programme for government.“The acknowledgement of dentistry in this document is very positive and much needed,” he said. He also alluded to the extra regulation that dentists will have to adhere to as both NHS and private practices will have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission by the end of March next year. Lord Colwyn called the challenges ‘threefold’. “First, the Government must complete the unfinished reforms, learning from the mistakes of the much criticised 2006 contract—in particular, avoiding the failure properly to pilot change. The contract was so disastrous that it initially saw access fall dramatically. Only in the past six months has access climbed back to the level it was at in 2006. I am delighted that the government have committed to pilot any changes. “Secondly, we must pursue consistently high-quality commissioning of primary dental care. Some PCTs perform well, but many have room for improvement. They must be properly supported in their work, particularly by ensuring that they employ or have access to dental practice advisers and dental public health expertise. “Thirdly, there must be a commitment o tackling oral health nequalities to close the unacceptable chasm which exists between those with good and poor oral health as highlighted in the British Dental Association’s general election manifesto, Smiles all round,” he said. He ended his speech saying: “the coalition has made it clear that dentistry is a priority. The task now is to work out the detail with the profession, to deliver real change for patients and dentists.” DT

Employers clamping down on dental visits

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:16:52 +0000

The percentage of companies that believe dental benefits improve employee morale has risen from 51% in 2008 to 67% in 2010. Similarly, the fact that employees might not be able to afford to maintain their oral health is increasingly a concern to companies, as this has risen from 41% in 2008 to 49% in 2010. Finally, the number of companies that believe dental benefits help to reduce sickness absence has risen from 30% in 2008 to 66% in 2010.

With this in mind, and given that dental care appears to be more important to employees and employer alike, are companies becoming more flexible when allowing dental visits during work time. The answer is a resounding no, and in fact, companies are becoming a lot stricter monitoring this.
One in ten of companies now discourage any visits to the dentist during working hours compared to 4% last year. Only 37% of companies believe it is up to the individual when they choose to visit the dentist compared to 53% last year. This could be a reflection of the increasing pressure on workplaces to keep people at work during these difficult financial times, and a further indication of the need for benefits such as dental to enable employees the option of visiting private dentists during out of office hours.

This research was conducted by Opinion Matters using an online fieldwork methodology. Opinion Matters surveyed 250 HR Managers and 1,005 working adults between 24 February and 4 March 2010. Respondents were invited to participate from a nationally representative online access panel. All research carried out adhered to the latest Market Research Society Codes of Conduct and is fully compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998, ensuring respondent anonymity.

Source: Simply Health

Meet the Chief Dental Officer for England.

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:34:13 +0000

Whether you work in the Dentistry Profession in the UK or are a member of the public, you may well like to know who is the NHS Chief Dental Officer, and a little more about him!
Mr.Barry Cockcroft is the Chief Dental Officer for England. In the past held the posts of Acting Chief Dental Officer and Deputy Chief Dental Officer, having joined the Department of Health in November 2002. Before this he worked for 27 years in NHS general practice. So he has a real pedigree and experience in his field.

The position of Chief Dental Officer, as it states, means that in the role you are the Industry’s top man. You are the most senior dental advisor to the Government. Having said that you can’t blame the role on the Government’s failings in the NHS sector at the moment. The NHS know what they want, whether the Government helps or does as it says, is another matter.

Barry qualified from Birmingham Dental School in 1973. Before he was apointed as DCDO he served on the Warwickshire Local Dental Committee as Chairman and Secretary. He was Chairman of the West Midlands Association of LDCs, and was elected to the General Dental Services Committee (GDSC) of the British Dental Association in 1990. Barry also served on many subcommittees and working groups of the GDSC before being elected Vice-Chairman in 2000.

Away from dental politics, Barry was the clinical lead in developing and running a first wave personal dental service in Rugby which was based on capitation as a method of remuneration in NHS general practice.
Mr.Cockroft is marrried with 3 children.

The Growing Popularity of Dental Tourism

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:00:16 +0000

While dental tourists may travel for a variety of reasons, their choices are usually driven by price considerations. Wide variations in the economics of countries with shared borders have been the historical mainstay of the sector. Examples include travel from Austria to Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia,the US to Mexico, to the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland and to Poland. While medical tourism is often generalized to travel from high-income countries to low-cost developing economies, other factors can influence a decision to travel, including differences between the funding of public healthcare or general access to healthcare.
For countries within the European Union, dental qualifications are required to reach a minimum approved by each country’s government. Thus a dentist qualified in one country can apply to any other EU country to practice in that country, allowing for greater mobility of labour for dentists (Directives typically apply not only to the EU but to the wider designation of the European Economic Area – EEA). The Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) has standardization efforts to harmonize European standards. Proposals from the ADEE’s Quality Assurance and Benchmarking taskforce cover the introduction of accreditation procedures for EU dentistry universities as well as programmes to facilitate dental students completing part of their education in foreign dentistry schools. Standardization of qualification in a region reciprocally removes one of the perceptual barriers for the development of patient mobility within that region.
The UK and The Republic of Ireland are two of the largest sources of dental tourists. Both have had their dental professions examined by competition authorities to determine whether consumers were receiving value for money from their dentists. Both countries’ professions were criticised for a lack of pricing transparency. A response to this is that dentistry is unsuitable for transparent pricing: each treatment will vary, an accurate quote is impossible until an examination has occurred. Thus price lists are no guarantee of final costs. Though they may encourage a level of competition between dentists, this will only happen in a competitive environment where supply and demand are closely matched. The 2007 Competition Authority report in the Irish Republic criticised the profession on its approach to increasing numbers of dentists and the training of dental specialties – orthodontics was a particular area for concern with training being irregular and limited in number of places. Supply is further limited as new dental specialties develop and dentists react to consumer demand for new dental products, further diluting the pool of dentists available for any given procedure.

Aside from the above issues, it is possible to compare the prices of treatment in different countries. With the international nature of some products and brands it is possible to make a valid comparison. For instance, the same porcelain veneer made in a lab in Sweden can be as much as 2500 AUD in Australia, but only 1200 AUD in India. The price difference here is not explainable by reference to the material cost.

Image courtesy of wikipedia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Ba_b747-400_g-bnle_arp.jpg

Dental Workers May Risk Exposure to Beryllium

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:49:20 +0000

The health hazards posed by exposure to the metal beryllium were once mainly associated with workers in the nuclear, electronics, and aircraft industries. However, the element may also pose risks to dental technicians who handle dental crowns and bridges composed of beryllium—nickel alloys.

Dental laboratory technicians must often grind, finish, and machine beryllium—containing metals, producing small beryllium dust particles that can lodge in the lungs. We now know that workplace exposure to beryllium can lead to chronic beryllium disease, a painful scarring of the lung tissue. Considered carcinogenic, beryllium may also cause lung cancer, skin rashes, and other ailments.

Although the potential problems of beryllium exposure in the dental industry were known for many years, it was not until 1993 that a case of chronic beryllium disease in a dental laboratory technician was documented in a scientific journal (Kotloff, R.M., P.S. Richman et al., (1993) Am Rev Respir Dis 147(1) 205—7).The researchers suspected that the technician had chronic beryllium disease based on clinical, radiographic and histological studies. They confirmed the diagnosis by using a beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test, known as BeLPT. Recently, a medical researcher spoke out about another case of chronic beryllium disease in a dental laboratory technician (Dr. Lee Newman, Head, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, letter dated January 30, 2001). The technician had sandblasted metal alloys containing beryllium; cut the metal pieces with a high—speed lathe; and removed the bubbles with a handheld electric grinder and burr. She performed this work repeatedly over a period of eight years while wearing only a paper dust mask.

Use of metal alloys at dental laboratories

In a survey of 51 dental laboratories in the Cleveland, Ohio area, 11 laboratories indicated that they used beryllium alloys, 27 said that they did not, and 13 refused to respond (Ohio Citizen Action Survey, February 21, 2001). An informal study by the same group showed that many dental suppliers did not provide the laboratories with adequate information about beryllium health hazards in their Material Safety Data Sheets, forms required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA (Ohio Citizen Action, letter dated February 21, 2001).

This study, although limited in scope, illustrates the need for better monitoring of the dental industry. Because of the serious health problems associated with beryllium, it is important that dental laboratory workers be correctly informed about the hazards of beryllium dust and fumes. Safety precautions such as the use of respirators and advanced ventilation systems are necessary not only in large manufacturing companies, but also in the dental laboratory.

For full article please visit : chronicberylliumdisease.com/news/nw_060101-dentist.htm

Huge rise in oral cancer for middle aged.

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:46:10 +0000

Rates of oral cancers, such as cancers of the mouth, tongue and lip, have increased by around a quarter in the past decade among people in their 40s, according to figures from Cancer Research UK today.

Oral cancer is largely a preventable disease with tobacco and alcohol use being the main risk factors.

Cancers caused by smoking often take up to 30 years to develop, so tobacco is less likely to be the main reason behind the increase in oral cancer in people in their 40s compared with older people.

And since smoking rates have gone down and alcohol consumption has gone up, experts believe the increase in oral cancer rates could mainly be down to drinking.

Other risk factors that could have helped to fuel the rise in this age group include a diet low in fruit and vegetables, and a sexually transmitted infection called the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Oral cancer rates in the UK for men in their 40s have gone up by 28 per cent since the mid 1990s, and rates for women in their 40s have increased by 24 per cent in the same period.

For both men and women of all ages, oral cancer rates have increased by more than 45 per cent since records began in 1975.

Hazel Nunn, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “These latest figures are really alarming.

“Around three quarters of oral cancers are thought to be caused by smoking and drinking alcohol.

“Tobacco is, by far, the main risk factor for oral cancer, so it’s important that we keep encouraging people to give up and think about new ways to stop people taking it up in the first place.

“But for people in their 40s, it seems that other factors are also contributing to this jump in oral cancer rates.

“Alcohol consumption has doubled since the 1950s and the trend we are now seeing is likely to be linked to Britain’s continually rising drinking levels.

“It’s possible that HPV and diet are also playing a role, and the evidence – particularly for the role of HPV – is growing.”

Each year in the UK around 5,000 people are diagnosed with oral cancer and around 1,800 people die from the disease. Oral cancers include those of the lip, tongue, mouth, parts of the pharynx and piriform sinus. Around a third of oral cancers are diagnosed in the mouth and a slightly lower proportion on the tongue.

The most common signs of oral cancer are ulcers, sores, red or white patches in the mouth that last longer than three weeks and unexplained pain in the mouth or ear.

Hazel Nunn added: “The good news is that oral cancer can be treated successfully if it’s caught early enough. It’s important that people go to the dentist regularly and report any symptoms to their GP or dentist without delay.”

Source:
Cancer Research Uk

Histopathologic image illustrating well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma in the excisional biopsy specimen.

Image Free courtesy of wikipedia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Oral_cancer_%281%29_squamous_cell_carcinoma_histopathology.jpg

Laser Tests to replace Dentists Drill?

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:44:59 +0000

At the University of Sydney scientists have worked on laser tests to identify weaknesses in dental enamel, which may at some point in the near future make the dentists drill a thing of the past.

Currently, X-rays and metal probes are used to check cavities, but they fail to detect weaknesses in the enamel in time to repair the surface.

Lead researcher David Wang sought to determine whether the propagation of sound waves through the enamel could provide an early warning.

The study showed that short, low-energy pulses from a laser generate weak bursts of acoustic waves in the surface of the enamel.

In tests on an extracted tooth, Wang detected these vibrations by collecting infrared laser light reflected from the surface of the tooth.

He found that changes in mineralisation of the enamel, which signal the onset of decay, appear to cause characteristic changes in the pattern of acoustic waves.

Wang will now be working for a more compact system.

“The ultimate goal is to come up with a quick, efficient, cost-effective and non-destructive way to evaluate mineralisation,” New Scientist quoted him as saying.

Selection of Dental Drill Bits

Image courtesy of wikipedia:

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