Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

C hanges to the future pro- vision of Health Service orthodontic treatment in Northern Ireland must be fully explained to patients waiting for care,theBritishDentalAssociation (BDA) advised today. The General Dental Services (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 will see the Index of Ortho- dontic Treatment Need (IOTN) being used to decide which cases will be funded by the Health Serv- ice. The new regulations, expected to take effect from July 2011, will stipulate that Health Service or- thodontic treatment will be re- stricted to patients who score 3.6 or more on the IOTN scale. The BDA believes it is also important to use a ‘common sense’ approach for adjudicating on borderline or excep-tional cas- es with IOTN lower than 3.6. Peter Crooks, Chair of the BDA Northern Ireland Dental Prac- tice Committee, said: “The use of IOTN for assessing eligibility for Health Service orthodontic treat- ment represents a significant change for patients. Undoubtedly some patients with an expectation of orthodontic care will be disap- pointed that they will not be eli- gible for treatment on the health service, so it’s vital that DHSSPS ensures that patients understand what the index means for them. It’s also important that a ‘commonsense’ approach to ad- judicating on borderline cases is adopted.” “Savings made from restrict- ing the provision of orthodon- tics must be reinvested back into primary dental services. With the costs associated with provid- ing dental care rising dramati- cally, that investment is more important than ever in meet- ing the requirements of dental practice.” DT Orthodontic treatment changes must be explained W hen it comes to oral care, dentists are the experts. However, as one recent news story showed, there are some patients who have asked for some special re- quests for their smiles. Prosthet- ic fangs, gold “grills” and tooth tattoos might sound like slight- ly crazy requests, but there are some requests that are simply weird. The Chicago Dental Soci- ety surveyed more than 300 members to find out the strang- est dental requests they’d ever received from patients. Their answers might shock you! 10) “Can you extract my tooth without anaesthesia?” 9) “Please wire my mouth shut to aid in my diet.” 8) “Can you ID this set of den- tures left in the bathroom of the bar I work at?” 7) “I will pay you or your hy- gienist to floss my teeth at my office every day.” 6) “Pull all my teeth, and just give me dentures.” 5) “I just broke off my en- gagement. Can you pre- pare my tooth so that I can keep the diamond in it?” 4) “Will you give me local an- esthesia in my lips? I’m going in for permanent “lipstick” tattoos on my lips, and would like to avoid the pain.” 3) “May I have an emergen- cy cleaning visit? It’s my high school reunion and I need a bright, white smile to face my old boyfriend.” 2) “Can I keep the teeth you pull out of my mouth? I’d like to make a necklace out of them.” And the number one strang- est dental request ever re- ceived... 1) “Can you give my dog braces?” The survey was conducted for the Chicago Dental Society’s 146th annual Midwinter Meet- ing, which brought more than 30,000 dental professionals to Chicago this February 24-26. The Midwinter Meeting is a forum for dentists to learn about new products, technologies, and methods. DT Top 10 strangest requests… T he Welsh Health Minister is set to announce that dental charges will be frozen at the 2006 level making this the fifth year in a row that the charges have been frozen. The current system has three price bands, which re- late to the complexity of the treatment; band 1 treatments cost £12, band 2 treatments cost £39 and band 3 treatments cost £177. The cost of emergen- cy treatment will also be fro- zen at £12. Dental treatment is considerably cheaper in Wales than England. Stuart Geddes, director of the British Dental Association in Wales said that the price freeze wasgoodnewsfordentalpatients and hopes that the move will encourage more people to visit their dentist on a regular basis. Along with these price freez- es, plans to dramatically reduce smoking levels in Wales have recently been unveiled, outlin- ing that playgrounds and all NHS property could be made into smoke-free zones. The ulti- mate goal is a “smoke-free soci- ety” and to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke. The chief medical officer has also suggested that there should be a debate on the issue of smoking in cars carry- ing children and even though the assembly government does not have the powers to ban smoking in cars with chil- dren, it remains keen to raise the issue. According to reports, the current consultation claims that smoking is the largest single preventable cause of ill health and premature death in Wales, causing around 5,650 deaths each year. DT Frozen and smokeless Playgrounds amd all NHS grounds could be made smoke free T heUK’sleadingindepend- ent oral health charity, the British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF), is de- lighted to announce the theme for this year’s National Smile Month, the ‘Smile Factor’, run- ning from 15 May – 15 June. The aim of the campaign is to put the smile back on peoples’ faces and help them display their full personalities through the ‘Smile Factor’ theme. Now into its 35th year, National Smile Month remains an integral part of the Foundation’s work in promoting greater oral health. As in previous years, the Foundation will also be raising the awareness of a healthy diet and the link between good oral health and good overall body health and promoting the three key messages of brush for two minutes twice a day using a fluo- ride toothpaste, visit your dentist regularly, as often as they recom- mend and cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks. Chief Executive of the BDHF, Dr Nigel Carter, described the thinking behind this year’s cam- paign: “They say you can hide be- hind a smile if you are not happy or are self-conscious about your teeth, so many people are miss- ing out on showing their very own ‘Smile Factor’.” Every year the BDHF encour- ages local communities, practices and individuals up and down the country to take part and get in- volved in National Smile Month, and as ever, there will be a wide range of different ways in which people can do just that. There will be many family and community events throughout the campaign – all of which need your support. If you’d like to find out more about National Smile Month, wish to take part in an event or organise one, all campaign material is now available. Please call the BDHF PR Department on 01788 539792 to request a copy. DT National Smile Month to bring out the ‘Smile Factor’ Giving dogs braces came in at the top of the weird requests March 14-20, 20114 News United Kingdom Edition