Preventing wrong tooth extractions

Aim

To provide an overview of National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIP) and detail how they can be used to create a Local Safety Standard for Invasive Procedures (LocSSIP) to prevent wrong tooth extraction.

Objectives

GDC development outcomes A, B and C

In the past, dental nurses primarily played an assistant role (Mindak, 2017), with minimal input into their own or the team’s way of working. In advance of developing a Local Safety Standard for Invasive Procedures (LocSSIP) in the Oral Surgery department at King’s College Hospital, a scoping exercise was performed to assess staff attitudes to patient safety. This demonstrated that dental nursing colleagues held the strongest beliefs that more could be done to improve patient safety. It was therefore determined that dental nurses should play a significant role in the design, implementation and maintenance of a LocSSIP for dental extractions within the department.