Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

Call us 01227 780009 Soft Tissue Management Laser specialist since 1992www.quicklase.com PowerPen £2500 inc VAT £3750 inc VAT Trio 8w 2w 810nm 4w 810nm + 4w 980nm Ultimate Cutting Ultimate Coagulation Ultimate Price British Built PPenTri8WQL150311RG Lim ited O ffer S o much has occurred in the time since my last column, and as always I can only convey a smidgeon of the fla- vourofdiscussionsthathavetaken place on GDPUK.com. This col- umn is like the précised version of the edited part of the digest! To begin, the hearts and minds of GDPUK readers were lifted by news that the end of the “no win no fee” method of paying litigation by patients is in sight. Will this finish off certain law firms, dentists were asking? There were also conver- sations where thoughts of- ten kept private were put out in public; once one colleague admitted the practice was not as busy as they would like, many joined in to discuss the facts. At local meetings, and perhaps all face to face events, there is a bravado which prevents colleagues admit- ting this, despite the economic climate which stares us in the face and is heavily promoted by the media. The media forgets that Sky TV, the supermarkets and mobilephonecompaniesallseem to have growing revenues, but it seems the discretionary spend on cosmetic dentistry is suffering a lull at present. It was also discussed that when the troubles in North Af- rica started, a dentist cared for a patient who had returned from Tunisia after escaping the situ- ation. She had prepared teeth but the crowns would follow in the post [due to the emergency situation there]. So, would the UK dentist please fit them? This opened a can of worms and al- though there was sympathy for the patient and her plight, it seems the crowns fitted in the European Community must comply with EC regulations. In addition, it was pointed out that if something did subsequently go wrong with the crowns, the solici- tor’s letter would land on the desk of the UK dentist who fitted them. It was generally agreed that this would not have been a problem 20 years ago – a dentist would inspect the crowns, try them in, and cement. Another conversation was – Was this colleague the subject of a scam? A practice website received an email from a nudist; it attached a photo and asked if the patient could have treatment in the nude – does the practice accept nudist patients? Wind up or true test? The offending photo was not uploaded to GD- PUK; it might not have been a pretty sight! One PCT wrote to their den- tists expressing the need for them to wear long sleeves when working, this being contrary to HTM01-05 advice to be bare below the elbow. One wag sug- gested clinical wear with one long sleeve, one short to satisfy both masters. A news item which gained a few smirks was a practice in Munich trying a new marketing ploy; the principal and team were all dressed in traditional Alpine garb. Much skin was on display and the com- ments from colleagues were all concerned with Health and Safe- ty and of course HT! DT Scams, smirks and skin Tony Jacobs discusses the latest hot topics on GDPUK.com March 28-April 3, 20118 GDPUK United Kingdom Edition About the author Tony Jacobs, 54, is a GDP in Manches- ter, in practice with partner Steve Laza- rus at 406 Dental. Tony founded GD- PUK in 1997, and the website now has over 11,500 unique visitors each month, who make 50,000 visits and create over 2m pages on the site every month.