Study of California’s program found trips to the emergency room increasedA new study suggests that states may not save as much money as anticipated by eliminating adult dental coverage under…
Tag: dentistry
Pointless treatments
‘Patients (are) sometimes being offered treatments that have only minor benefit.’ We hear that doctors have been told to stop doing pointless treatments and tell patients that doing nothing can often be the best approach. Patients often expect their GPs to give them a prescription or refer them for an operation, rather than being told to take control of their own condition, by changing their lifestyle. For dentistry, in many ways, it is worse. Patients may welcome being told ‘nothing needs doing’, but resent being asked to pay a patients charge of £17 for the privilege of hearing this. Many may well prefer having a scale and polish to be told that it is their responsibility to keep their mouths plaque free. Professor Dame
Top tips on financial lending to grow and improve your dental practice
Simon Walker, head of commercial sales at Wesleyan Bank, looks at what dental practices can do to make it easier to obtain a commercial loan to help their business. Changes to NHS funding mean many practices are having to look elsewhere for financing in order to grow and improve their businesses. Whether the funds are needed to renovate a surgery to comply with the latest hygiene regulations, to upgrade equipment and facilities to attract new patients, or to make an equity investment in a surgery, the costs involved can be so high that it is likely a commercial loan will be needed. Here are some of the key things dental practices should think about when they approach banks for financial assistance. Look for a specialist lender Despite
BDA asks Cameron to honour pledge on health regulation
BDA asks Cameron to honour the Government’s pledge on health reform The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on the Government to issue a timetable on its plans to reform health regulation. Today’s Queen’s Speech was devoid of references to reform of healthcare regulation, whilst in 2013, in the wake of the Francis Inquiry, the Prime Minster pledged to ‘sweep away’ the ‘outdated and inflexible’ law governing health regulators. The call was supported by professional associations, trade unions and the healthcare regulators themselves and so the UK Law Commissions subsequently produced a draft bill on reform of healthcare regulation, but it has not secured any parliamentary time. ‘Britain has over a million regulated healthcare practitioners,’ Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association,
Manchester United
Kevin Lewis reviews how the recent BDA Conference went and how he thinks it might have brought the profession together. I start to pen this column in the certain knowledge that I will already have alienated many of those reading it, and no doubt gravely irritated some others. What could be more natural than the fact that as a six-year-old child, born in Middlesex and attending a school in Buckinghamshire where rugby was the main preoccupation, I should be drawn to supporting the above mentioned football team? It was almost inevitable, given that my best mate at that time, born in Surrey and whose parents were from Hertfordshire, was a rabid red. Even if my geographical credentials were somewhat tenuous for such early loyalties, my
Calls for judicious use of antibiotics in dentistry
The BDA is working with experts to combat AMR The British Dental Association (BDA) is working with experts to combat the health risks from pathogens resistant to antibiotics. The consensus report sets out a comprehensive blueprint to help dentists play their part in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), acknowledged as a worldwide threat to public health. ‘Dentistry accounts for around 10{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of all antibiotics prescribed in the UK, so it’s fitting that the BDA leads the way in supporting dentists to reduce antibiotic prescribing,’ Susie Sanderson from the BDA’s principal executive committee, said. ‘We are privileged to be able to draw on the expertise of specialists who can help steer us in the right direction, and for this reason I am proud
Revolutionary therapeutic dental adhesives with the aptitude to remineralise the resin-dentine bonding interface through biomimetic processes
Clinical minimally invasive treatments require the elimination of dental caries-infected tissues in order to stop the progression of bacteria to the pulpal chamber and maximise the reparative…
CWRU dental researchers find some immune cells change to prolong inflammation
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine have unraveled one of the mysteries of how a small group of immune cells work: That some inflammation-fighting immune cells…
General Dental Council’s response to the Queen’s Speech
The General Dental Council (GDC) has expressed extreme disappointment that yet again a Bill to reform professional regulation in the interests of patients and the public was not in the Queen’s Speech, despite widespread consensus that it is necessary. Whilst regrettable in many respects, this offers extended time for a fresh look at how to protect patients by designing a much more workable system of resolving complaints about dental professionals. The GDC has long campaigned for reforms to its very outdated legislation which stands in the way of providing sufficiently timely, proportionate resolution of complaints. This is to the disadvantage of patients and the public, but also to dental professionals. At a time of increased complaints across a number of healthcare sectors, many regulators, including the
Soda and fruit juice are ‘biggest culprits in dental erosion’
In a large new study, participants who consumed the most fruit juices or soft drinks also had the most severe symptoms of tooth wear.
Naturally occurring amino acid could improve oral health
Arginine, a common amino acid found naturally in foods, breaks down dental plaque, which could help millions of people avoid cavities and gum disease, researchers at the University of Michigan and…