Month: March 2021

The simple protection your patients need

Curasept ADS 220 remains one of the most popular solutions in the Curasept product range from J&S Davis for various reasons:

  • All the plaque-fighting benefits of chlorhexidine (CHX), without the potential side effects
  • Contains PVP-VA to create a film on oral structure that prevents the accumulation of bacteria over time
  • Formulated to help protect against gingivitis and gum disease
  • Easy to use

The unique Anti Discolouration System (ADS) minimises the risk of staining or taste disturbance that is often associated with other CHX products.

This is just one product in a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to optimise patients’ oral health. To find out more, contact the team at J&S Davis today.

 

For more information on the industry-leading products available from J&S Davis, visit www.js-davis.co.uk, call 01438 747 344 or email jsdsales@js-davis.co.uk

Safety and precision with Zygoma implant surgery

Did you know W&H offers a handpiece specifically designed to support Zygomatic dental implant treatment?

Developed in collaboration with leaders from the field, the new SZ-75 handpiece features a unique angulation that enables optimal access to the treatment site. It also boasts an innovative chuck system for improved safety and highly accurate concentricity during application.

The SZ-75 can be combined with W&H’s award-winning Implantmed surgical unit, which facilitates atraumatic and precise implant placement with its automatic thread cutter and torque control function. The Implantmed’s wireless foot control also enables you to operate the unit from your ideal working position.

Call now for further details.

 

To find out more visit www.wh.com/en_uk, call 01727 874990 or email office.uk@wh.com

A sure thing

May 2021

There is one, and only one sure-fire investment you can make to thrive in this world – invest in yourself.

Particularly in challenging circumstances, investing in your future is the smartest way you can use your time. Ucer Education’s Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Implant Dentistry (EduQual Level 7) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, having built a rock-solid reputation under Specialist Oral Surgeon, Professor Cemal Ucer.

The course gives graduates the skills and hands-on training needed to confidently and safely place and restore dental implants in a wide range of patients. It also utilises the cutting-edge facilities of the ICE Postgraduate Dental Institute in Manchester for a superior learning experience.

Find out more today.

 

For more information on the PG Cert in Implant Dentistry from Ucer Education – supported by Geistlich, Megagen, Neoss, TRI Implants and General Medical – please visit www.ucer.education or call Prof Ucer on 07767 645331

Email ucer@oral-implants.com

How a complete restriction on online advertising of unhealthy food could decrease tooth decay

An end to online advertising of unhealthy food would be a world-leading protective measure for young people’s health and wellbeing and reduce their risk of developing diet-related diseases, including tooth decay, says Dr Kawther Hashem – Campaign Lead at Action on Sugar

Have a think about how many food-related decisions you make every day. How many of these decisions do you think are influenced by what you are seeing on TV and social media?

We make over 200 decisions about the food we eat, consciously and unconsciously, and every day we are bombarded with encouragement and opportunity to choose the less healthy options. This primarily comes from paidfor advertising, which we know can shape everyone’s food choices (including children), and not always in a healthy way.

Evidence suggests that children’s exposure to products high in (saturated) fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) can affect what they eat and when they eat. This can happen in the short term (i.e. increasing the amount of food children eat immediately after being exposed to an HFSS food advert), and also in the longer term by shaping children’s food preferences from a young age. Restrictions on HFSS advertising could therefore help reduce this unwarranted exposure and improve our children’s health and wellbeing.

Furthermore, it can encourage companies producing HFSS products to change their recipes (reformulate) in order to make them healthier and enable them to continue advertising the product. If companies choose to do this, it could further increase the health benefits to both current and future generations.

Besides, most companies with a wide range of products can shift their marketing budget to healthier products and continue to advertise in a responsible way.

As part of its ‘tackling obesity strategy’, the Government committed to acting on protecting children from HFSS exposure on TV. Now, they are going further and consulted on a proposal to introduce a total restriction for these adverts online.

Robust legislation to restrict HFSS food marketing and promotions to protect the health of future generations is necessary for many reasons, but fundamentally it would:

1. Future-proof the policy against changes in children’s media habits. Who knows exactly how we will consume media in 10 years’ time? If we learned anything from this pandemic, it is that things can change, and can change drastically. Did you notice how many children were forced to sit in front of a screen to learn when schools had to close?

2. Ensure more transparency about how data is collected and how they target individuals with specific, sometimes tailored, ads. When a child hides their real age to get an Instagram or Facebook account, who knows if they are exposed to age-appropriate content – no one, because close to no one knows.

Let’s hope that following the government consultation on this, they will actually go ahead with the restrictions, despite the push from the advertising and food and drink companies.

Elevated oral health

Do you see more female patients then male for preventive-maintenance appointments? Or maybe more men are making enquires into elective treatment to improve their smiles?

This year, it’s all about instructing your adult patients in proven oral health practices, based on a solid routine and quality tools. When oral health is good, general heath and wellbeing will be elevated.

TANDEX makes premium products, from daily brushes to interdental brushes and adjuncts. There is also a handy FLEXI educator tool, which you can use to support patients with choosing the right-size brush for each space.  

Keep prevention simple and effective – recommend TANDEX.

 

For more information on Tandex’s range of products,
visit https://tandex.dk/ or visit the Facebook page

Share knowledge, share success

Lifelong learning is a staple of modern dentistry, but it’s crucial to remember that there are many different ways to advance your knowledge and skills. Attending training courses and events (when it’s safe to do so), as well as completing online programmes can all be highly beneficial in developing your capabilities and confidence within your field. However, sharing knowledge with colleagues, discussing experiences and supporting each other is just as important for learning and encouraging the collective success of the profession.

Forming networks

As we continue to live through a pandemic, the benefits of community and the communication and support this brings have never been so apparent. How many times has a friend or family member offered an idea or shared their own experience to help you improve your situation? This could have been something as simple as suggesting a particular time to go shopping to avoid the queues, or it might have involved swapping good online workouts or discount codes for educational resources for children.

With regards to work, many dental professionals have been sharing information and advice to help colleagues meet the guidelines while optimising the efficiency and profitability of their businesses. Few could have predicted the challenges faced over the past year, so learning from each other to see what works and what doesn’t provides a faster learning curve for individual practices to find the right solutions for their particular predicaments. From Facebook or WhatsApp groups to websites of professional organisations and newsletters from expert companies, there have been various methods of communication designed to share knowledge and help all practices and professionals survive. 

These networks have proved invaluable for many individuals and businesses alike during these difficult times. By communicating such information and sharing experiences or ideas, all professionals have been able to learn from each other, to gain fresh perspectives and apply innovative thinking to their own lives and practices. In turn, this has helped many deliver the best possible patient care under the circumstances, minimising disruption to patient access wherever possible.

Building a brighter future

With such networks more established and appreciated than ever before, this lays a solid foundation for the future of dentistry. Though we are not out of the pandemic woods just yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccination programme going ahead full steam. With a lower risk to public health and growing public confidence, this means we can start to look forward to a brighter future.

In continuing to share knowledge and experiences among the profession, everyone stands to benefit. Even in ‘normal’ times, we all need a little help or inspiration at some point! Clinicians and their teams can benefit from new ideas on how to streamline their daily workflows, or what new technologies could help enhance the accuracy of dental products they provide. It can also be very useful to learn from other practices and pick up tricks for enhanced marketing activities, indemnity packages or even better management of bills and other overheads. COVID-19 aside, there will always be a new situation to face or a new challenge to overcome – having a network of like-minded colleagues to turn to for support is vital for the team and for the quality of patient care delivered.

In addition, this knowledge sharing can give way to innovation and evolution within dentistry. It encourages development and paves the way for new and improved ways of doing things. Constant communication and constructive feedback can speed up the process and enable both professionals and patients to benefit from ever-more innovative solutions.

A network you can rely on

Finding the right dental community for your interests, experience and professional circumstances is vital. For instance, practice principals need access to other business owners to ensure mutual benefits, while those with large NHS contracts may benefit from joining a network with a similar set-up.

For those who are providing dental implants or interested in growing this aspect of their practice, the Association of Dental Implantology (ADI) is a no-brainer. With thousands of active members, the organisation is dedicated to supporting professional education in dental implantology. It brings together a vast array of individuals, including some of the most experienced and globally-celebrated names in the field. This means there is always someone to speak to for advice, to bounce ideas off or to be inspired by.

As part of the many membership benefits available, the ADI Members Only Facebook Group provides a quick, simple and highly convenient platform to connect with others. Whether sharing a specific case, looking for recommendations or seeking opinions on how to manage a difficult patient situation, your colleagues are there to help.

Succeeding together

At the end of the day, dentistry is a team sport and one in which we succeed by working together. Sharing knowledge and experiences is an essential part of the learning process for all members of the team. Pandemic or no pandemic, make sure you have a network to support you when you need it.

 

For more information about the ADI, or to join, please visit the website www.adi.org.uk

Handling, durability and aesthetics

Grania O’Connell, Principal of Cork Dental Care, comments on the Filtek Supreme XTE Universal Restorative from 3M Oral Care:

“I have been using 3M products since 2006 and have stocked them since opening my own practice in 2009. I use a range of solutions, including the 3M Filtek Supreme XTE Universal Restorative, which I use for both posterior and anterior restorations. 

“I like the way that it handles and find that it has just the right viscosity for my needs. When I see patients again who have restorations with Filtek Supreme XTE Universal Restorative, they rarely exhibit fractures or chipping. The range of shades also makes it possible to achieve great aesthetics and the material is translucent enough to use a single layer that polishes really well. 

“I prefer the capsule delivery system, as I can easily deliver the material more directly and in the exact quantity that I desire. Both my practice manager and I have a great relationship with our local 3M representative, who we meet with regularly – we could not praise him more highly. If only all of our suppliers could have employees like him, our lives would be made so much easier!”

 

For more information, call 08705 360 036 or visit www.3M.co.uk/Dental

3M representatives continue to be available via video calling technologies for your convenience.

 

END

 

3M and Filtek are trademarks of the 3M Company.

A vision for child’s first 1001 days, without teeth?

The Early Years Healthy Development Review led by Andrea Leadsom provides a vision for the first critical 1001 days of a child’s life in its newly published report. The omission of oral health from The Best Start for Life has been condemned by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD).

Commissioned by Boris Johnson to improve the health and development outcomes for babies in England, there is scant mention of the mouth or of dentistry.

“This is a report which appears to deny the importance of oral health to the health and well-being of the nation’s children,” says Claire Stevens CBE, BSPD spokesperson. “It’s hugely frustrating that the contribution of paediatric dentists has not been sought despite an offer to pull together an expert group, making this a missed opportunity.”

She said the word ‘dentist’ is used once: “With childhood dental extractions under general anaesthetic being the most common reason for a child to be admitted to hospital, this omission is breath-taking. The report is 147 pages, yet there is sadly not a single mention of children’s oral health.”

Dr Stevens continued: “I am urging Andrea Leadsom and the Government to take up our offer and engage with paediatric dentists so that in the coming months, the oral health needs of children can be factored into the vision for a child’s first 1001 days.

“Our data shows that Covid-19 has had a disproportionate effect on young children and those from a lower socio-economic groups and waiting lists for general anaesthetics are unacceptably long. As such, it’s imperative that oral health is included in the context of general health. Every child deserves a smile for life.”

BSPD has been urging Government to ensure that oral health is included in the review. A Dental Check by the Age of One, for instance, gets children into the routine of seeing a dentist and gives parents access to all-important oral health and dietary advice.

Dr Stevens continued: “While the pandemic was a barrier to routine dental visits, as we return to some semblance of normality, we need to be encouraging parents to engage with dentistry and caring for their children’s teeth. We know that dental disease is nearly always preventable.”

The mouth is factored into the report under the heading of infant feeding with a brief reference to tongue-tie. Mrs Stevens said: “We welcome the inclusion of tongue-tie. That any baby should be struggling to breastfeed due to tongue-tie is worrying. What we would like to see is a mouth check included as routine in the newborn check on every baby before they leave hospital so tongue-tie can be picked up early.”

NASDAL holds its annual ‘State of the Nation’

Thursday 25th March saw NASDAL (National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers) hold its annual press conference – this year virtually at BDIA Dental Showcase – and many Principals, Associates and team members, along with the dental media, joined what was an enlightening event with 5 presentations and then an interactive Question & Answer session.

It has been an unusual twelve months and this year’s event reflected this by being billed as a ‘State of the Nation’ press conference dealing as it did with a wide variety of dental related financial and legal matters.

After being welcomed by Nick Ledingham, Chartered Accountant and Senior Partner of Morris & Co, Specialist Dental Accountants and Chairman of NASDAL, the conference heard the latest goodwill value statistics announced by Alan Suggett, specialist dental accountant at UNW and NASDAL Media Officer. These are normally produced on a quarterly basis but due to the pandemic, the latest figures covered the four months that ended 31st January 2021.

Against what many may have expected, the latest period showed very little reduction in practice values due to the pandemic. As with the last survey (which covered the period from 1st April to 30th September 2020), in NASDAL members’ experience, although there have been only limited price reductions, there has been a considerable lengthening of the sales process. Alan commented, “It certainly does show that the UK dental practice sales market is not the dystopian nightmare that some commentators have suggested!”

Benchmarking Statistics – “continued fall in NHS practice profits but better news for Associates”

Ian Simpson, Chartered Accountant and a partner in Humphrey and Co, then presented the Benchmarking Statistics for the year 2019-2020. The NASDAL benchmarking statistics are published annually in March and reflect the finances of dental practices and dentists for the most recent tax year. The NASDAL figures provide a detailed picture of dental practice finances, sourced directly from dentists working privately and in the NHS. They are immensely useful but this year, as the period in question only ran until March 2020, they have limited information to offer about the effect of the pandemic. However, they do make interesting reading. Some of the key points from this year were:

  • A continued fall in NHS practice profits – this is perhaps as NHS practices tend to depend more on the use of Associates
  • A slight fall in net profit across the market as a whole
  • Better news for Associates with an increase in fee income of 3% and an increase in net profit of 2%
  • Practice expense ratios stayed very consistent with previous years

Ian Simpson said, “Overall, we have seen results similar to the previous year with a small impact of COVID-19 in Feb/Mar 2020. Net profit of a typical dental practice fell back to £129,178 from £134,387 in 2019 and both NHS and Private practices saw a reduction in profit (NHS – £116,284 in 19/20 down from £124,475 in 18/19; Private – £133,192 in 19/20 down from £140,591 in 18/19). Only mixed practices bucked this trend with a small rise from £132,940 in 18/19 to £134,342.

“What the figures will show for the year of the pandemic is conjecture at this point, but we certainly find ourselves in a very different landscape now from a little over a year ago.”

NHS Quarter 4 – meeting the targets

Alan Suggett then returned to discuss what has happened (in England), since the beginning of January 2020 in terms of Q4 targets and the need to achieve 45% of pre-pandemic activity to avoid any financial penalties by way of ‘clawback’. Alan identified two key issues that were affecting practices.

“First and foremost, my concern is for a small but significant number of practices that will be unable to hit the threshold of 45% of UDA contract amounts and how that ‘cliff edge’ will affect them. The fact that many NHS practices are already hitting this target is good news but irrelevant to those that cannot.”

“Another perhaps unconsidered consequence of the Q4 rules is pay cuts of more than 65% for some self-employed dental associates who carry out NHS work. During the COVID 19 crisis a very important measure of financial protection has been given to NHS associates as so far they have been paid in full. Q4 rules brought this to an end for those associates who work in practices which cannot hit the 45% UDA threshold.

“I feel that a fair compromise is quite simple – remove the ‘cliff edge’ at 36%. I worry that without this change, a small percentage of the total NHS contract holders could be in real trouble. In addition, the associates who work in those practices could suffer a pay cut in excess of 65%.”

“I will leave Heidi to discuss what might happen as of 1st April, suffice to say that there will be no material change in circumstance between 31st March and the following day and therefore I would be surprised to see any movement from the 45% figure.”

Practice sales market – “still buoyant”

Chair of the NASDAL Lawyers Group and partner at Ward Hadaway, Damien Charlton then discussed the Practice Sales market over the last year. As Alan Suggett had already referred to, this was a whole lot busier than many might have expected. What the pandemic did do was slow the entire sales

process. Damien said, “From March 2020 until June 2020 there was a hiatus as society was locked down. Then, volumes of practice sales picked up quickly and NASDAL members saw a particular surge earlier this year as many sought to avoid a potential Capital Gains Tax increase in the Budget that as it turned out, didn’t materialise.”

“To illustrate the added time now involved, it can take up to 20 weeks for the CQC to register a new partnership allocation! As we move forward, it seems that those buying practices are having to do so in more of a ‘blind’ fashion than in is traditional. Even though a practice has been successful in the past, the new world that we find ourselves in, means it is no guarantee of future prosperity.”

The Future – “the reckoning of the end of furlough”

The final presentation was delivered by Heidi Marshall, who is the NASDAL Honorary Secretary and heads up the dental team at Dodd & Co Chartered Accountants. Heidi had the unenviable task – even more so in these times – of considering what may happen in the coming months.

Heidi covered a wide range of areas including Q1 percentages, clawback and the ‘Zoom Boom’ of dentistry. She also shared evidence of mixed practices taking the decision to leave the NHS as they are finding that the numbers no longer add up.

Heidi particularly focused on the end of furlough and that September 2021 will see a real reckoning in many sectors. “I think that we will see the true impact of what the end of furlough will mean for our economy. Potentially hundreds of thousands of people could find themselves out of work and that will certainly mean a reduction in enquiries for elective dentistry but perhaps even the more regular dental care too?”

Nick Ledingham, of Morris & Co, Specialist Dental Accountants and Chairman of NASDAL concluded, “I am pleased to see that the UK dental sector has reacted to the challenge that Covid has provided in a typically robust fashion, but it has been a tough 12 months for many and the future is still uncertain.

“Now, more than ever, it is important that dental practices take specialist advice so that they can understand and react to changes in their business situation.”

Regulatory reform: a once in a generation opportunity to influence the regulatory framework

by Stefan Czerniawski, GDC Executive Director, Strategy

The Department of Health and Social Care has published a consultation document, Regulating healthcare professionals, protecting the public setting out proposals for reforming the legislation under which each of the healthcare professional regulators operate, including the GDC. The consultation is very welcome – it is a big step towards achieving the legislative reform which is very much needed and which we have been pressing the Government to deliver for a long time.

Our ambitions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of dental professional regulation have long been constrained by limits on what we can do, imposed by the legislation under which we operate. The Dentists Act 1984, though subsequently amended, still has at its heart a legal framework which is approaching 40 years old. The main problem is that in many areas it is excessively prescriptive: the legislation is both very detailed and very slow and cumbersome to change. And that has very real consequences. It means that we cannot always adapt quickly to changing circumstances and that we can’t always respond flexibly and appropriately. This is a problem in several areas of our work, but particularly so in relation to fitness to practise where the rigidity of the rules doesn’t fit comfortably with the wide variety of circumstances we need to deal with.

At the core of the approach proposed in the consultation document, there would be much more scope for each of the regulators to set their own rules on the detail of how they operate, balanced by strengthening their transparency and accountability to ensure that those powers were used sensibly. There is a lot of detail in the consultation document about how that would work in practice, covering overall governance, education and training, registration, and fitness to practise.

While we very strongly support the overall approach, we will be looking carefully at the detail to make sure that we can achieve the best possible framework for dental regulation. We strongly encourage everybody with an interest in dental regulation to do the same and to respond to the consultation – it’s really important that the Government hears directly from the people and groups these proposals will most directly affect.

The consultation is open until 16 June. We have 12 weeks to reflect on and discuss the Government’s proposals, and we should all make the most of the opportunity. Changes implemented as a result of this consultation are likely to define the regulatory landscape for a generation, so it really matters that we all help the Government to get it right.

For our part, we are keen to hear and discuss views on the reform agenda through the consultation period, to make sure that in our own response to the consultation we are drawing on the collective insights and experience of dental professionals and their patients.