New Report Reveals Early Signs Of Changes In Dental Care, UK

Main Category: Dentistry
Article Date: 05 Oct 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Dentists are now carrying out fewer fillings, radiographs and crowns in a typical course of treatment than they did three years ago, suggests a report published by The Information Centre for health and social care (The IC).

The report, Dental Treatment Band Analysis, England 2007, provides an early indication that the care patients receive from their dentists has changed since 2003/04. Fundamental reforms to the dental system were launched in April 2006.

The interim study compares courses of treatment between April and July 2007 (the first four months of the second year since the new contractual arrangements came into effect) with equivalent information for 2003/04. The year 2003/04 was chosen for comparison because it was last period in which financial processes and patient care were stable before the widespread transfer from General Dental Services (GDS) to Personal Dental Services (PDS) from 2004/05 to 2005/06. This was then followed by fundamental reforms to the dental system in April 2006.

The new contractual arrangements introduced a simplified system for paying dentists. Before, dentists were paid for individual treatment items. Under the new system, they are now paid for an entire course of treatment (CoT) - with courses of treatment divided into four bands:

Band 1 CoTs cover check-ups and simple treatments such as examinations and radiographs.

Band 2 CoTs cover mid-range treatments such as fillings, extractions and root-canal work.

Band 3 CoTs cover complex treatments such as veneers, crowns and dentures.

Band 1 urgent CoTs cover treatment for patients requiring immediate attention, including fillings and extractions.

The report shows:

- The number of radiographs carried out in every 100 CoTs fell from 53 in 2003/04 to 32 in 2007.

- The number of fillings fell from 50 in every 100 CoTs in 2003/04 to 45 in 2007. However, the percentage of CoTs with fillings increased from 28 per cent to 31 per cent.

- The percentage of Band 3 CoTs with crowns fell from 46 per cent in 2003/04 to 35 per cent in 2007.

- The percentage of Band 3 CoTs with dentures rose from 39 per cent to 48 per cent. This was largely due to an increase in partial dentures with full dentures fitted remaining unchanged.

The IC's acting chief executive Tim Straughan said: "The findings of this interim study provide early evidence that the care patients receive could be changing following the introduction of the new dental contractual arrangements with a decline in most complex types of treatment.

"The information will be useful evidence for the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body when they consider dentists' pay in the future."

The report is here.

1. The Information Centre (The IC) is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work.

The IC also produces more than 120 statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.

2. The number of treatment items (eg filling, radiograph etc) in 100 courses of treatment is not the equivalent to a percentage because there can be more than one treatment item in a single course of treatment.

http://www.ic.nhs.uk