Sara Hurley, chief dental officer for England, released a new bulletin on September 21. It covers the Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit, the Advancing Dental Care review report and patient exemption checking.

Ms Hurley said, “Public Health England has published the fourth edition of Delivering Better Oral Health, their evidence-based toolkit for preventive oral health care. The new toolkit has, for the first time, been developed with the input of patient representatives and is available in a digital format. Important new content is included on infant feeding, the detection of oral cancer, tobacco cessation, alcohol reduction, and tooth wear.

“I warmly welcome Health Education England's review on Advancing Dental Care. Today's publication lays out an exciting vision for the future that will strengthen our dental teams by investing in the skills of trainees and qualified professionals, widening access to the profession, and promoting flexible working. My particular thanks go to Malcolm Smith at HEE who has worked hard to deliver this vision. Do watch Malcolm's short summary of the report on Youtube.

“In today's bulletin we have also included important resources from the NHSBSA to help patients and dental teams understand exemptions for NHS dental charges. Please point patients and staff towards these as appropriate in your practice.”

Updated toolkit on Delivering Better Oral Health by Public Health England
Public Health England has published the fourth edition of Delivering Better Oral Health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention (DBOHv4). It is the result of a comprehensive review of the published research evidence on prevention to ensure that the guidance is up to date. It draws on a UK-wide collaboration of over 100 well respected experts including frontline dental teams and, for the first time, patient representatives.

Dental professionals are in a prime position to help promote oral health and prevent oral disease. This toolkit helps busy dental teams and healthcare professionals have access to the best evidence of what works for oral health improvement all in one place.

What's new in today's updated toolkit?

DBOHv4 has been developed through a broad UK collaboration of experts, frontline practitioners and, for the first time, patient representatives, and is intended for use throughout dentistry in the UK

DBOHv4 has been published on gov.uk in a new digital format making it easily accessible on mobile devices

The summary tables (chapter 2) have not changed significantly but have new content on the prevention of dental caries (new content on infant feeding), prevention of oral cancer (new content on early detection and more detail on tobacco cessation and alcohol reduction) and a new table on tooth wear focusing on accelerated tooth wear

The importance of effectively supporting behaviour change is acknowledged with this chapter coming immediately after the summary guidance tables with practical examples as case studies

Throughout DBOHv4 there is a greater consideration of oral health improvement for older people and other vulnerable groups

New report on the future of the dental professional workforce
HEE has published the Advancing Dental Care (ADC) Review Report, the culmination of a three-year review to identify and develop a future dental education and training infrastructure that produces a skilled multi-professional oral healthcare workforce, which can best support patient and population needs within the NHS.

HEE has worked and engaged with trainees, patients and system partners to devise a clear blueprint for change to reform dental education and training, which includes widening access to dental careers and understanding the oral health needs of patients in specific communities, so the skills and competencies of the workforce can be targeted where they are most needed.

Over the next four years, HEE will continue to work collaboratively with system partners to deliver the recommendations of the ADC Review Report across each of England’s seven regions. The proposals include:

Skills development:

Giving trainees diverse experience of managing complex care, co-morbidities, and a stronger understanding of the communities they serve in changing care models and pathways

Better use of the skill mix of the dental workforce and multi-disciplinary team working

Options for qualified dentists and dental care professionals to increase their knowledge and skills and develop new capabilities and competence, including leadership, management and research

Widening access and participation:

More flexible entry routes into training, to widen access and participation and develop more dental professionals in areas of greatest need

Supporting the development of apprenticeships to diversify and promote the concept of a local dental workforce approach

Co-ordination and distribution of postgraduate training posts, so that it is better aligned to areas with the highest levels of oral health inequalities

Flexible working:

Flexible models of Dental Core and Specialty Training to support workforce retention and career progression and an equitable distribution of postgraduate dental training places

Digital and blended learning opportunities to deliver dental education and training

Options for less than full time training and career breaks, which can support differing lifestyles and wellbeing of trainees

Patient exemption checking: A guide for dental teams from the NHS Business Services Authority
For dental teams, any time a patient makes a declaration that they are entitled to free or reduced cost NHS dental treatment you must:

Ask them to complete and sign a declaration form (FP17PR) before any treatment begins

Ask the patient to complete the ‘Claim for free or reduced cost NHS dental services’ section of the form, if they are entitled

Ask to see evidence of their eligibility

Note on your practice records if they show a valid exemption certificate, along with the expiry date of the certificate

Patient exemption checking: A guide for dental teams in England – This guide for dental team members aims to improve your understanding of the rules as to whether a patient is entitled to free or reduced cost NHS dental treatment

Author: Ellen Cummings