WORD OF MOUTH 2012

Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the first Newsletter of 2012. In which the big news for The Practice must be the start of the NHS Dental pilot which should have started in April 2011 but actually began in August.

The Smile Centre is one of only sixty or so practices nationwide who are testing a new approach to seeing patients based on life style markers and existing dental disease that may increase or decrease the risk of future disease if left untreated. This differs slightly from what is happening nationally as most patients are seen every six months for a "check- up" regardless of these additional markers. So, at your next visit you will be seen for an "Oral Health Assessment"(OHA) which is similar to a check-up but more detail is recorded to produce a risk profile for the next one to two years. This risk assessment is produced by the computer based on pre-programmed parameters and you are allocated a Red, Amber or Green code to denote how healthy or otherwise your mouth is. This "RAG" score converts to suggested recall periods that may vary from 3 to 24 months. You might appreciate that red denotes concern and may lead to an early recall whereas green denotes a lower risk and we would therefore suggest a longer recall period. Amber is obviously in between and reflected in an average recall period.

The description above is a simple guide for what actually happens and the conversion of data that includes such things as how often you visit us, any medication you may be taking, medical conditions such as diabetes, your diet and alcohol consumption as well as the more obvious things like brushing technique, existing decay and gum disease, is converted behind the scenes by a fancy set of rules to suggest recall and treatment patterns.

We are proud of the fact that The Smile Centre has adopted this approach for many years, varying recall times especially for visits to our Hygienists. Many of you are already on 3 or 4 month recalls so we can help prevent and treat gum disease. At last the NHS is catching up and formalising an approach that other practices can follow. Dr Nanda has been invited to sit on the Steering Group Panel, which is chaired by The Deputy Chief Dental Officer for England and Wales, Dr Sue Gregory, and we are hoping that his inclusion on the Panel will help formulate a practical alternative to the target driven system that has prevailed since 2006. Dr Nanda and our Practice Manager, Adrian Taylor have met with the Dept. of Health (DoH) twice already and there are more meetings scheduled for 2012/13.

The Pilot has meant an increase in waiting times for appointments, both for OHA's and treatment and we have reported that to the DoH but as yet they have been reluctant to change the guidance. So while they and we struggle with the new structure we hope you can be patient and understand it isn't our reception teams fault if appointments are temporarily more difficult to schedule.

We look forward to seeing you soon!