Rochdale to see increase in NHS dentists

A £1.3 million plan to improve the dental service will see five new dentists coming to the Rochdale area.

The ambitious project was recently unveiled, as is an attempt to transform the dentist situation in the borough where an surgery will be opened in Brimrod with four new dentists.

Bosses from NHS Heywood, Middleton, hope that these moves will help to reduce waiting lists, which are constantly rising, as well as giving a greater number of patients access to NHS services.

The moves should be completed by the end of the year, and the added dentists will be able to provide NHS treatment to 17,000 more patients.

The opening times and exact locations have not yet been revealed. Over the next few months, patients will be given information on how to sign up to the new services. All places are to be given out on a first-come first-served basis.

The primary care dental lead of the Trust, Carole Williams, stated that they have been working hard to bring more dental services to those living in the area. It is an added bonus that the work will be completed by the end of the year.

Williams also adds that access to NHS dentists has slowly been improving, but these new services will dramatically increase the number of new patients who can be treated – a huge boost to local services.

The Observer recently published results in March stating that 562 children needed to have decaying teeth removed – where the town had the second-worst figures in the whole of greater Manchester.

After the results of this report, bosses of the Trust realised the dental service of Rochdale was ‘poor’.

Dental patients in Sussex forced to use A&E

Common problems finding an NHS dentist have caused hundreds of Sussex patients to seek help in A&E.

Figures cited by the Conservative Party show that 646 residents of the county had emergency dental procedures in 2007-8.

The Tories blamed the problems on Labour’s new dental contract, which saw changes to the pricing structure of treatment.

Yet, according to the Tories, this emergency treatment is costing the country more than £380,000.

West Sussex accounted for the majority of admissions, with 381 hospital visits. Across the country, 22,000 people have gone to A&E for treatment, including more than 5,000 children.

It has been revealed by the Argus that children in the UK are at risk from a number of dental problems, including gum disease, decay and serious illness simply because parents have not given them a toothbrush. Health bosses over the country agree that something needs to be done to increase access to NHS dentists.

In Sussex alone, more than 30,000 people stopped getting NHS dental treatment before December 2008 over a period of 2 years.

West Sussex dental contracts manage, Andy Brown, stated that everyone should have access to a dentist. He added that plans were being developed that will expand the NHS treatment available in West Sussex. This includes a new practice in Steyning, due to open next month. There are also places opening up for new patients now.

Those who wish to register for a dentist should call the NHS dental helpline on 0300 100899.

The Health Minister, Ann Keen, pointed out that those undergoing emergency treatment have increased by just 1%, where 36 million courses of treatments had still been delivered by NHS dentists – increasing since the previous year by almost a million.

Report due on dental care changes

A review into the way dental services in England should change for the better is due to be released shortly.

This independent review was ordered by ministers, and addresses some of the continuing problems regarding access to NHS dentists. The report will also look at finding of dentists, and ways to ensure high-quality standards of NHS dental care.

A spokeswoman of the British Dental Association said that addressing these problems was ‘vital’ both for doctors and patients.

A dental contract, introduced in April 2006, for the attempt to widen access for NHS patients proved highly unpopular with both the dental profession and the public. Since then, figures have shown that 1.2 million fewer patients have visited a dentist in England in two years compared to figures since the contract was introduced.

Criticism has also stated that dentists have less incentive to perform complex surgery now that they are being paid a flat salary. These treatments fell by 45% in the first year following the reforms. Scotland and Northern Ireland were not covered by the new contract, and there complex treatments rose.

The report is being led by Professor Jimmy Steele who states the team ‘shall make the recommendations we feel we need to make’ in order to provide better dental services.

Chair of the British Dental Association, Susie Sanderson, said that there have been problems in accessing a dentist, and with preventative care, since 2006. She also praised the report for its ‘openness’.

More seeking emergency dental treatment as NHS faces problems

More and more of the residents of Wiltshire are now seeking emergency help due to increasing difficulty getting an appointment at an NHS dentist, as claimed by the Tories.

These claims are given alongside official figures showing that 211 of the county’s residents have undergone emergency hospital admissions in order to get dental treatment in the period 2007/8.

The estimated cost of these treatments to the tax payer, as cited by the Tories, is £125,000.

The figures, from the Information Centre, also showed that 22,000 across England have been admitted to hospital for dental treatment in 2007/8. The figure is up one percent from the previous year, and include 5,500 children.

In total, the Tories claim, these emergency admissions are costing the NHS £13m per year.

Most of these admissions came through A&E departments though some patients went to GPs beforehand.

However, the Department of Health claims that the NHS dental service is improving, and states that an increase of one percent in emergency admissions is just a fraction of the total number of those receiving dental treatments from the NHS in the usual way.

Men in better position when it comes to dental hygiene

According to the latest research performed by Tesco Dental Insurance, men spend more money when it comes to looking after their dental health.

The survey showed that a third of British women claimed to have spent no money on any dental treatment throughout the year. Just 27% of men made the same claim.

More worryingly, 45% of women who took part in the survey were put off going to the dentist simply because of the cost.

However, other results of the survey showed that men do not always come first in terms of dental health. When it comes to the question of extracting their own teeth, men are three times more likely to do this than women – if they could not afford the cost of extraction at the dentist.

The head of Tesco Dental Insurance, Jeremy Sutton, stated that dental treatment can be expensive. In many cases it can cost £86 for an extraction.

Tesco Dental Insurance cover starts at £9.95 per month. Dental insurance can help men and women to cover the cost of both routine checkups and dental treatment. Insurance covers both NHS costs and the cost of private dental treatment.

Thousands queue for treatment at dental surgery

Thousands of desperate patients recently lined the streets of Perth after hearing of news that new places in an NHS surgery were opening up.

The new centre, Caledonia Dental Care, is opening in York Place and will be accepting 9,000 new patients.

The news quickly spread at the weekend and a queue began to form at around 6am early Saturday. The queue quickly made its way from the reception of the dental surgery, along the street and into neighbouring roads.

The news of registration led to patients travelling from all over Scotland for the chance. It was reported that 7,400 people had already tried to register.

A dentist from Caledonia Dental Care, John Cockburn, was shocked when he saw the length of the queue growing, stating that ‘they came from all over the place, from Fife, from up north.’ He even saw an elderly man queuing from 6am.

Cathy Jamieson, Labour health spokeswomen, stated that this response to new places has shown that more needs to be done as a way of handling the lack of NHS places available across Scotland.

She further stated that to have people ‘queuing round the block’ shows that there must be a large shortage.

However, the Scottish Government defended its record of dental care, stating that they have made NHS dentistry a top priority in recent years and are working hard to reverse the years of decline in spaces available.

NHS Tayside was given a £5.4 million payment in January in order to set up new dental clinics.

MP Demands More Dental Surgeries

One MP, Andrew Rosindell, has demanded that action be taken in order to increase access to NHS dentists in Havering.

The latest government figures have shown that 41% of people in the area have been unable to see an NHS dentist in the last two years. 11,220 people in the area also lost access to their NHS dentist since 2006.

Rosindell stated that the dental situation is ‘terrible’ with a million people losing access to NHS services in the last three years.

Dentists themselves are also not happy, according to Rosindell, with the current system, which is why more and more are going private.

NHS Havering claim that Rosindell’s statistics misrepresent the reality, where the truth is that residents do not need to be registered in order to be able to see an NHS dentist. Many people are also registered at their place of work rather than within the borough.

They further claimed that Havering services were above the London average for the 2008-9 period and that access is increasing. According to an NHS spokesman, 81% of Havering dentists are accepting new NHS places, and a new NHS practice is opening in Collier Row.

The spokesman added that if you are having trouble finding a dentist you should contact the NHS Havering service on 01708 465058.

Academy to Provide Free Dental Treatment

A new dental centre setup by the University of Portsmouth will provide free NHS dental treatment for up to 3,000 each year. Work has already started on the £9m Dental Academy plans.

The centre, to be built in Ravelin Park, will train 80 students each year who will learn by giving free dental treatment to local patients, including bridges, fillings, crowns, dentures and extractions.

The academy is setup to be in walking distance of some deprived areas of the city, including Portsea and Somers Town, where oral hygiene is, on average, worse than the national average.

The pro-vice chancellor of the university, Dr Davil Arell, said that this new facility will bring huge benefits to the city.

The building will be linked to the School of Professionals Complementary to Dentistry in Ravelin Park, which is where dentists and nurses are already trained. The new academy will house students of dentistry from King’s College London Dental Institute for their final year in which they will study real situations.

One patient has already been treated at the SPCD. The 35-year-old said that his mouth would bleed every time he brushed. After years of trying to find an NHS dentist, he heard about the new school and after examination they found that it was the early stages of gum disease. Since then the problem has ‘completely cleared up’.

The academy is due to open in September 2010. It will included facilities for children as well as larger surgeries with chairs suitable for those who are less mobile or disabled.

DENTAL HEALTH IN THE CITY

Earlier in the year a dental health survey of adults in the city, carried out by Portsmouth City Teaching Primary Care Trust, showed that nearly a third of those who responded hair pain in their mouth, teeth or gums within the past year.

27 percent of those surveyed had not visited a dentist in the past year, and nearly a third of those in care homes had not seen a dentist for 10 years or more.

For 22 percent cost was the main deterrent, and 8 percent were afraid of the dentist.

Free Dental Advice at Shopping Centre

Staff from a city dental surgery have been giving free advice on how to look after your teeth to customers shopping at Meadowhall centre.

Nearly 2,000 children and adults stop to talk to the staff who came from the Thompson and Thomas dental surgery at Langsett Road, Hillsborough. The staff were giving up their time as part of the British Dental Health Foundation’s National Smile Month, which aims at encouraging people to take better care of their teeth and gums.

The manager of Thompson and Thomas, Jane, said that shoppers talked to the dentists about a variety of problems ranging from phobia of the dentist to mouth ulcers and bad breath.

Some of the younger visitors to the staff were asked to take part in a timed teeth cleaning, after which many realised they were not doing it for long enough. The recommended time taken to clean teeth is two minutes in order to remove plaque and stop tooth decay.

Aside from giving advice, staff also showed pictures depicting the damage that plaque can do to teeth. Competitions were help as a way of getting people to think more carefully about the way they look after their teeth. Jane said that the day was a success with a good response.

Bad Dental Habits Increase Risk of Swine Flu

Bad dental hygiene could possibly increase the swine flu risk, as reported by the National Dental Survey.

The survey was conducted as part of National Smile Month (May 17th – June 16th) by the British Dental Health Foundation.

Bad dental habits are helping to spread germs, and around 40 percent of the UK population admits to picking their teeth with fingernails.

This habit can cause the risk of spreading germs from surfaces touched by the hands to the mouth and through the rest of the body.

The chief executive of the Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter, states that ‘hygiene warnings have been made clear ever since the swine flu outbreak’ and calls the report ‘worrying’ that people have not been making personal hygiene a top priority.

The survey results showed that the UK has a lack of awareness when it comes to how important oral health can be, after research has already linked gum disease to diabetes, strokes, heart disease, premature births, and even infertility.

However, awareness of these studies is low, and two-thirds of the UK population are still unaware of the possible links to heart disease, with four out of five not knowing of the links to diabetes and strokes, and a very high 94 percent of those who took part not knowing of the risks to pregnant women.

Dr Carter also added: ‘The public could be put at risk by poor dental hygiene habits yet awareness of these risks is very low’. In particular he emphasises the fact that gum disease has been linked to serious health issues, and is something that affects most people in their lives, stating ‘ there is no excuse for ignoring good dental hygiene’.

Carter suggests that the best way to take care of our gums is to brush twice a day using fluoride toothpaste and cleaning in between our teeth with an interdental brush or floss. We should also cut down on how often we eat sugary snacks and drinks, as well as visiting the dentist regularly.

The British Dental Health Foundation has set up a phone line through which they will provide expert advice to the public, on 1045 063 1188.