Dental Tribune UK Edition, September 13-19, 2010, Vol. 4 No. 21

Do you have an opinion or some- thing to say on any Dental Tribune UK article? Or would you like to write your own opinion for our guest comment page? If so don’t hesitate to write to: The Editor, Dental Tribune UK Ltd, 4th Floor, Treasure House, 19-21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1 8BA Or email: lisa@dentaltribuneuk.com Editorial comment If your practice has not previously been involved in Colgate Oral Health Month, please call 0161 665 5881 to register. The 2010 interactive CPD programme ‘Putting Prevention into Practice’ providing verifiable CPD will be available to download by visiting www.colgateohm.co.uk Practice packs contain educational materials, motivational stickers, patient samples and materials to enable dental teams to create their own display to drive awareness of the 3 Essentials for an Even Healthier Mouth. The entire dental team can get involved in the 2010 campaign focusing on ‘Discover 3 Essentials for an Even Healthier Mouth’. Expenses have ‘risen dramatically’ D entists’ expenses in- cluding the costs of the building, dental equip- ment, staff and materials, have ‘risen dramatically’, according to new figures from the NHS Infor- mation Centre. The Information Centre’s re- port, Dental Earnings and Expens- es, England and Wales 2008/09, shows dental practice expenses have risen at a faster rate than incomes have increased. The average taxable income for all self-employed primary care dentists in England and Wales in 2008/09 was £89,600, compared to £89,100 in 2007/08, according to the report. The expenses borne by den- tists – the costs of providing the building, equipment, staff and materials necessary to provide patient care – rose rapidly during 2008/09. Practice principals saw their expenses increase by 7.6 per cent from £218,000 in 2007/08 to £235,500 in 2008/09. It is no surprise to John Milne, chair of the British Dental Asso- ciation’s (BDA’s) General Dental Practice Committee, who said: ‘‘These figures underline what the BDA knows from its own re- search and talking to members: thatthe costs associated with pro- viding high street dentistry have risen dramatically. ‘‘Changes in the exchange rate have had a pronounced impact on the costs of equipment imported from overseas and costs associat- ed with compliance with a variety of regulatory requirements.’’ He added: ‘‘Trends in expenses will need to be monitored careful- ly to ensure that dental practices are properly supported and are able to provide the resources they need to continue providing high- quality care to patients.’’ DT W elcome to this issue of Dental Tribune!Itseemsages since we last spoke, yet so much seems to have happened. Of course the biggest news for many dentists is the deci- sion by the coalition government to take direct control over the pay and contract values of dentists. The Doctors’ and Dentists’ Re- view Body were sent their march- ing orders in a letter by Sec- retary of State for Health An- drew Lansley, excerpts of which you will have seen on the front page of this issue. Now, we all know the kind of cuts have been being seen in all parts of the governmental budg- ets, and I have no doubts that organisations such as the BDA will have their work cut out for them with regards to negotiating the best deal they can for den- tists. It will be interesting to see how this fits in with the plans for implementing the recent Health White Paper and delivering a ‘value for money’ service. We will all ‘watch this space’. With BDTA Showcase on the horizon, thoughts have turned to the next generation of prod- ucts to be releasing and recently I attended various meetings and symposia on some of these. I look forward to sharing some of the thoughts of the key opinion lead- ers that were at these events and enlighten you to some of the ex- citing things you’ll be able to see and play with at Showcase. I am also looking forward to meeting with you at conferences and events coming up – stopmeandshareyour comments (I’ll be by the coffee stand!). DT 3NewsSeptember 13-19, 2010United Kingdom Edition