Delivering Better Oral Health: what the third edition offers

Many readers will be aware of Delivering Better Oral Health: An Evidence-based Toolkit for Prevention (DBOH), a toolkit to support dental teams and commissioners in the delivery of a more preventive approach to oral health, in both its first and second editions (Department of Health (DH), 2007; DH, 2009). A commitment was made by the Department of Health at the first publication in 2007 to make sure that the guidance is based on the most current research. Hence, in June 2014, Public Health England published the third edition (Public Health England, 2014a).

As the oral health of the population is improving, it is important to move dentistry from a mainly treatment-focused model of care to a preventive-focused model. The document advises that all patients should receive evidence-based advice and interventions to support improvement and maintenance of their oral health and that those at risk should receive more intense support. It underpins work being carried out on contract reform pilots with dental services focused on prevention. Revision for the third edition was led by Public Health England, the health and wellbeing directorate. Evidence for all sections was reviewed, updates made and new sections were added. The Cochrane oral health group then specifically reviewed the revised evidence-based guidance in the summary tables. The main changes include expanded sections on periodontal disease, tooth wear, alcohol and tobacco, a new section on helping patients to change behaviour and new summary sheets for tobacco, alcohol, and healthier eating. Both full and summary versions have been published, and a new public-facing version is still under development.