Month: October 2017

Dentist struck off for putting patients at risk from cross infection failings

The General Dental Council (GDC) has removed a dentist from the register of dental professionals for multiple failings involving wide-ranging cross-infection control, the standard of care to patients and record keeping.

A Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) found 21 charges found proven against Mark Roberts at a hearing on Friday 20th October.

The charges included reusing equipment that should have been disposed of after use, including single-use local anaesthetic cartridges, single-use endodontic files, and a syringe. Other cross-infection control failings included not routinely change his gloves and mask between patients and failing to ensure dental instruments and equipment were adequately cleaned.

It was also found proven that Mr. Roberts failed to ensure that emergency drugs at his practice were in date and that clinical waste was appropriately disposed of. The PCC also found it proven that 12 patients were affected by Mr. Roberts’ inadequate standard of care and record keeping.

Mr. Roberts did not attend and was not represented, but was given the opportunity to consider the facts found proved against him. He submitted a statement outlining that he referred to his failings as “occasional poor practice” and stated that “no patient had come to any harm”.

The Chair of the PCC said: “The Committee considers that the myriad of serious and persistent failings found in Mr. Roberts’ practice of dentistry, his apparent disregard for patient safety in practising in this manner for a considerable period and a demonstrable lack of awareness on his part, make his conduct fundamentally incompatible with being a dental professional.”
Mr. Roberts will no longer be able to practice dentistry in the United Kingdom, with immediate effect.

Jonathan Green, Executive Director, Fitness to Practise, at the General Dental Council, said: “The General Dental Council’s role is to protect patients and help to ensure the public has confidence in dental services. One of the ways we do this is by regulating dental professionals.

“The failings in the case of Mark Roberts are serious and go to the heart of our role in protecting the public. Mr. Roberts has repeatedly exposed patients and members of staff to risk of infection over a considerable period of time and demonstrated a lack insight into his conduct and remorse. Mr. Roberts has shown a clear disregard for the standards for dental professionals, which are designed to protect patients, and his removal from the register reflects our commitment to the patient protection and maintaining public confidence in dental services.”

Aiming continually to improve

Jonathan Green, Executive Director for Fitness to Practise Committee the General Dental Councilfunding comments…

The General Dental Council (GDC) is committed to developing a system of regulation that is fair and proportionate, and part of that involves improving our fitness to practise process.
To this end, on 7 September 2017, we launched a consultation outlining our proposals for an operational change to the case observations process, which is part of the Fitness to Practise process. The case observation process is completed by the Casework team when the GDC determines that a complaint or other information received about a nregistrant amounts to an allegation of impaired fitness to practise. The process provides dental professionals with the opportunity to respond to fitness to practise allegations made against them. It is a process focused on achieving transparency and fairness. The six-week consultation will give you the opportunity to share your feedback on the outlined change, which – if approved – will be implemented on 1 November 2017. So, there is still time for you to tell us what you think about our proposals.
Currently, during the case observations stage we will – in all cases – contact the registrant for their observations on the allegation. When the registrant has responded, the GDC will – again in all cases – return to the informant who made the complaint, and ask for their response to the registrant’s observations.
In most cases, comments provided by informants at this stage offer no new information, and tend to repeat the information first submitted as part of their concern. A lengthy fitness to practise process is stressful for both registrants and informants and the GDC is concerned that its current practice of always requesting observations from informants can add several weeks to the process without providing any benefit to the investigation.
The change we would like to make, would be to only invite observations from registrants in all cases. Informants will be invited to comment on the registrant’s response if the GDC Caseworker determines it to be necessary. The Caseworker will need to be satisfied that both the registrant and the informant have been given reasonable opportunity to comment and are unlikely to offer any new and relevant information. If the change is adopted, we will update our internal guidance to make clear the situations in which seeking informant observations is appropriate and likely to yield new information or where the informant’s direct experience of the events is particularly relevant. For example, where there are serious allegations of sexually motivated behaviour. Further details are set out in the consultation document.
The aim of this change is to shorten the case observation stage, therefore streamlining the fitness to practise investigation process.
The consultation period of six weeks, is shorter than the GDC’s typical 12-week consultation timeframe. This is because both patient and registrant groups have fed back that the fitness to practise process is too lengthy and stressful; there is therefore an obligation upon the GDC to take appropriate measures to address the timeliness and efficiency of its processes.

Coming soon from Patient Plan Direct

As part of Patient Plan Direct’s continued investment in its practice-branded dental plan solution, benefiting practices thanks to amazingly low plan administration fees, the plan provider has announced work is currently underway to launch a brand new and enhanced plan administration portal. The new online platform is being built with existing clients’ feedback constantly in mind in order to offer an improved user experience and additional stats, data and information on plan performance at the click of a button.
The new platform will be rolled out in early 2018. In the meantime, whether you already run a dental plan via another provider or you’re considering launching a dental plan, if you’d like more information about Patient Plan Direct’s practice-branded dental plan solution, boosting practice profitability, please visit www.patientplandirect.com, email info@patientplandirect.com, or call 0844 848 6888.

Flush pockets clean

The latest figures show that over 80 per cent of adults in England displayed some signs of periodontal disease, including deep pocketing of 4mm or more.
These deep pockets cannot be assessed by a toothbrush or most ‘standard’ cleaning aids, yet they provide the ideal environment for bacteria to grow and thrive.
The Water Flosser from Waterpik International, Inc. is ideal for patients with periodontal pockets. The pockets will be flushed clean, quickly and efficiently, providing a comfortable experience for the patient. Research showed the Waterpik Water Flosser to reduce bleeding by up to 81 per cent in periodontal patients.
Various different tips are available to suit the individual needs of the patients. For example, the Pik Pocket Tip is designed specifically to clean periodontal pockets and furcations. The soft rubber tip delivers a gentle, low-pressure rinse below the gumline, clinically proven to access up to 90 per cent of a 6mm periodontal pocket.
For more information about how your patients can benefit, professionals can sign up for Lunch & Learn presentations, which offer first-hand information through Waterpik’s network of educators.
Talk to Waterpik International, Inc. today to find out more!
To arrange a Lunch & Learn, please call 0333 12 35677 or email ukcustomerservices@waterpik.com. Waterpik products are available from Amazon, Costco UK and Superdrug stores across the UK and Ireland.

Alpha Omega London Charitable Trust

Children living in the slums of Buenos Aires were very excited to see a brand new dental chair roll into their clinic recently when the Alpha Omega London Charitable Trust donated a new dental unit to the Todos Juntos Children’s Trust, a dental charity dedicated to providing oral hygiene and dental restoration to the most vulnerable of children in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  

Last year Todos Juntos provided more than 35,000 free dental treatments to children living in extremely poor communities in Buenos Aires. 

The charity was established in 2005 after its founder, Fiona Watson, realised the extent of tooth decay among Argentine children and the effect this was having on their lives. Many were suffering severe dental decay seriously affecting their ability to eat, talk and smile. 

Todos Juntos now operates three Sonrisa (meaning smile) clinics providing free dental restoration to underprivileged children.  The charity also runs oral health education sessions in surrounding schools, distributes toothbrushes and toothpaste and gives one-to-one hygiene sessions to all its young patients. 

About 90 per cent of children living in slum areas suffer from debilitating tooth decay and most children don’t even own a toothbrush or toothpaste. Lack of oral education and lack of access to restorative dental care have left hundreds of children queuing to get into the Todos Juntos Sonrisa Project.

Fiona Watson, founder of Todos Juntos Children’s Trust, added: 

“Tooth decay is the number one chronic childhood disease worldwide and yet it is probably the most forgotten of all diseases when it comes to grants so we are extremely grateful to Alpha Omega London Charitable Trust for this wonderful gift. Unfortunately our previous chair broke over a year ago and because we were unable to fix it we had no choice but to keep on using it as best we could. We simply did not have the funds to replace it. Now with this amazing gift, a beautiful fully functional new chair we are in “dental” heaven and look forward to sharing it with the hundreds of children who come through our doors each year.”

Professor Andrew Eder, Chairman of the Alpha Omega London Charitable Trust, commented:

“Alpha Omega is delighted to have the opportunity to support the Todos Juntos Children’s Trust. As the oldest international dental organisation established in 1907, Alpha Omega’s commitment to improving global oral health is greater than ever. We were introduced to Fiona Watson a little over a year ago, she is a truly inspirational colleague supported by a wonderful team and we sincerely hope that this new dental chair will help to support the local needs as best possible.”

 

MyCrown – a successful launch for an innovative system

MyCrown – a new, fully integrated CAD CAM and chair side milling system for restorations launched at the BDIA Dental Showcase and impressed delegates with its simplicity and speed.

MyCrown’s acquisition unit has both 2D and 3D capabilities and removes the need for traditional impressions. This enables practitioners to produce everyday restorations chair-side, including crowns, inlays, onlays, veneers and up to three unit bridges.

Delegates were able to sit, scan, design and mill the restorations at the My Crown stand allowing them to see the finished product first hand. Dental professionals were particularly impressed with the intuitive, touchscreen technology and the convenience of a fully guided workflow system to streamline the creation of restorations.

MyCrown is a system that provides open STL files. It is compatible with the majority of ceramic blocks and doesn’t restrict you to a single material.

If you missed out on the chance to meet the team behind MyCrown and see this state-of-the-art system for yourself, why not visit the website to find out more?

 

 

For more information, visit

www.my-crown.co.uk or call 03339 873007

London calling: Limited places available for final Nobel Biocare symposium of 2017

Dental professionals have one last chance this year to experience the high-quality educational experience of a Nobel Biocare symposium when the final event of the 2017 series takes place in in London, UK, November 10–11. 

A limited number of places are still available for the event, which will be held at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel. The symposium will offer lectures and master classes from both globally renowned experts and the leading local names in implantology. 

Speakers include Dr. Rubén Davó from Alicante, Spain, who will present the new Trefoil system for the first time in the UK. Launched on October 5, the Trefoil system is a breakthrough in efficiency for treating the edentulous mandible, enabling a fixed and definitive prosthesis on the day of surgery.1 

As a principal investigator in an international multi-center study of the Trefoil system conducted prior to launch, Dr. Davó is one of very few clinicians in the world already experienced in treating patients with this latest Nobel Biocare innovation. 

The latest techniques for the treatment of edentulous patients and those with a failing dentition will also be addressed on stage by Prof. Paulo Malo, from Lisbon, Portugal–the pioneer of the original, proven All-on-4® treatment concept–and London-based Dr. Andrew Dawood, who will present the management of the atrophic maxilla using zygomatic implants. 

Other highlights include a comprehensive program covering the integrated digital workflow. Nobel Biocare’s collaborative workflow has been developed to significantly increase treatment efficiency and patient acceptance with the latest digital innovations.2,3 International speakers on the topic include Switzerland’s Dr. Roland Glauser and Drs. Leon Pariente and Karim Dada of Paris, France, who will discuss these latest digital trends shaping implantology and their benefits. 

Over 6,000 dental professionals have attended the 10 Nobel Biocare symposia held already this year, with hundreds more expected in London. 

Those looking to view the full program, or to register for the Nobel Biocare symposium in London, should visit nobelbiocare.com/London. 

 

What attendees of previous Nobel Biocare 2017 symposia had to say: 

“Nobel Biocare doesn’t present products, but solutions. Once again they surprised us with the new solutions that are now available. These will continue to help us in our daily practice, making things easy and simple, with better solutions for the clinic and, naturally, for our patients.” Dr. Pedro Santos Silva, Portugal 

“The Next Generation session was a wonderful surprise, it’s good to see young speakers with such good presentations, they are our future. Congratulations to Nobel Biocare on the event!” Dr. Alexandre Rovisco, Portugal 

“I would like to thank Nobel Biocare for the perfect organization of the Dubai Symposium. The scientific program was outstanding, as the renowned clinicians lecturing succeeded in relating how Nobel Biocare has always joined science and innovative technologies in the constant evolution of their products to better serve the dentists and their patients.” Prof. Nabil Barakat, Lebanon 

“We enjoyed a top-level scientific program. Highlights were the interdisciplinary approach, the live surgeries and also an excellent program for the laboratory technicians who play a very important role in treatment – this is crucial for the benefit of the patients.” Dr. Beatriz Aranguena, Spain 

“Nobel Biocare events are always interesting – lecturers from all over the world providing different concepts and approaches are widely represented here. They help to follow trends in the contemporary dental market and to be at the cutting edge, both clinically and scientifically.” Dr. Ivan Kondratiev, Russia 

“The Nobel Biocare symposium in China has been well organized with fantastic academic topics. It provides dentists with a good chance to be exposed to the latest ideas and technologies of the dental implant industry.” Prof. Ye Lin, China 

Dental charities launch joint fundraising appeal

Leading dental charities Bridge2Aid and Dentaid have launched a joint fundraising campaign to ensure more vulnerable people around the world can access dental care.

The two charities have embarked on a 12-month fundraising initiative called “Together Dental” that will help both organisations expand their work and enable more people to access the dental treatment they so desperately need – both in the UK and abroad.

Andy Evans who is Dentaid’s CEO said: “This campaign is about two like-minded charities that are passionate about ending dental pain working together to have even greater impact.

“We are jointly appealing to the UK dental community to help us reach more people who are suffering dental pain. It is not acceptable that four billion people around the globe have a toothache and that people are needlessly dying of infections caused by inadequate access to safe dental treatment. This joint appeal is about ending pain and fighting for change.”

Over the next year, there will be a programme of joint fundraising events and opportunities for individuals and businesses to donate and make a difference. All the money raised in the Together Dental appeal will be shared equally between Bridge2Aid and Dentaid.

This will enable Bridge2Aid to increase its programmes training rural health workers in East Africa and Dentaid to expand its work supporting dentists around the world while providing emergency care for refugees and people in the UK who find it hard to access dental treatment. Both charities will continue to run their popular volunteering programmes offering UK dental professionals the chance to use their skills overseas.

Shaenna Loughnane, Bridge2Aid CEO said: “This is a really exciting time for Bridge2Aid and Dentaid.

“We understand and respect the work that each other is doing and we are both working to make a sustainable difference to people’s lives and the communities in which they are living. Both charities believe that together we are stronger and together we will leave no one behind.”

To find out more visit www.togetherdental.org

 

BDA Benevolent Fund calls for support before the festive season begins

Last week at the Dental Showcase in Birmingham, Professor Ros Keeton, chair of the BDA Benevolent Fund spoke about the importance of helping dentists who have financial difficulties together.

Professor Ros Keeton said: “We recently supported a middle-aged dentist who had been a highly successful Associate. Like many, he took the next step and purchased his own practice. Sadly, for a variety of reasons, it didn’t work out as expected and he ran into significant debt.

“He was horrified to find himself in such a situation. He just didn’t think this was something that would happen to him. Thankfully, someone suggested he contact the BDA Benevolent Fund and we were able to provide financial support to help with his living costs, weekly food bills and the mortgage – while he sorted out his business.

“He returned to working as an Associate and hasn’t looked back since.”

BDA Benevolent Fund offers additional financial support at this time of year to ensure that families don’t miss out.

Professor Ros Keeton explains, “we aim to help dentists resolve their financial difficulties by getting back to work, either in dentistry or with a new opportunity.”

If you, or a dentist you know, are facing financial difficulties, please contact BDA Benevolent Fund, in confidence, on 020 7486 4994, or visit www.bdabenevolentfund.org.uk for more information.

An exciting new partnership for A-dec

Masters of ergonomics, A-dec, have recently started working with Curran Dental. A-dec are well known for their high-quality dental chairs which offer the utmost comfort for both patient and practitioner. Curran Dental offer technical support and project management to dental practices, and pride themselves on providing a high-quality service.

Pleased to be bringing a new partner on board, A-dec’s Nick Olive says: “I am very excited to be working with Curran Dental, whose reputation for exceptional service fits really well with the A-dec ethos.”

Sue Curran, director of Curran Dental is also very happy about the development, she says: “We chose to work with A-dec because we know they are a company with integrity, that puts patient and practitioner comfort first. We are excited to be working with a quality conscious company such as A-dec and are honoured to bring their products to our customers – we can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

 

 

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

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