Banded Treatment: Too Early To Assess Impact, Says BDA, UK

Main Category: Dentistry
Article Date: 08 Oct 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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Commenting on the interim study - Dental Treatment Band Analysis, England 2007 - the Chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee, Dr Lester Ellman said:

"Dentists and patients have been highly critical of the Government's changes to dentistry which brought in a crude, target driven system, untried and untested. This is a period of major transition and it's too early to say what the full impact of the new contract will be on treatment patterns. But it's clear that these changes have led to uncertainty and confusion for dentists and patients alike."

The study compares courses of treatment between April and July 2007 (the first four months of the second year under the new contractual arrangements) with equivalent information for 2003/04.

1. Dental Treatment Band Analysis, England 2007 (http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentaltba07)

2. The British Dental Association (BDA) is the professional association for dentists in the UK. It represents over 20,000 dentists working in general practice, in community and hospital settings, in academia and research, and in the armed forces.

http://www.bda.org