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Welcome News


DENTAL FRAUD COSTS Welcome to your


THERE’S been a barrage of news items in recent years highlighting the financial and social challenges brought about by the economic downturn. The dental profession has certainly felt the impact and trainees are operating in an increasingly competitive environment. My article on page 4 looks at some of the major issues affecting new dentists and offers guidance on how to stay ahead of the game. Despite our best efforts, we will


all most likely find ourselves on the receiving end of a patient complaint at some point in our careers. Our article on page 10 highlights the importance of swift action in dealing with dissatisfied patients. Treatments such as teeth


whitening and porcelain veneers are becoming an increasingly common dental practice as patient demand for cosmetic dentistry rises. But is it acceptable to destroy healthy tooth tissue to achieve the “perfect smile”? Dental ethicist Dick Birkin discusses the issue on page 5.


Endodontic treatment is an


important part of good oral health, but it can be difficult and failure can be costly. MDDUS dental adviser Doug Hamilton highlights some common pitfalls on page 12. Our case study on page 14, meanwhile, looks at the case of a trainee dentist who removed the wrong tooth. On page 6, palaeopathologist Alan Ogden lifts the lid on his fascinating work studying ancient human remains, where he uses his skills as a dentist to build a picture of how they once lived. He famously reconstructed the features of Gristhorpe Man, one of the best preserved Bronze Age skeletons ever found in the UK.


And in our careers article on


page 8, specialist trainees Jane Temple and Jessica Rowley focus on the small but growing specialty of special care dentistry where every patient is unique.


• Martin Nimmo Editor


COVER PHOTO: SCIENCE MUSEUM / SCIENCE & SOCIETY PICTURE LIBRARY


£70 MILLION OVER YEAR DENTAL fraud cost the NHS in England over £70 million in the year 2009-10, according to figures published by the government agency NHS Protect. The report looked at the prevalence of suspected fraud in contractor claims within NHS dental services based upon a random sample of 5,000 FP17 dental activity reports for completed treatments drawn by NHS Dental services. This was the first such exercise undertaken since the current dental contract was introduced in April 2006. The report concludes that there was an estimated loss due to


suspected contractor fraud of £73.19 million during 2009-10 based upon an assessment of resolved treatment queries, with a potential for a further £5.31 million of loss in unresolved queries. It is estimated that during this period almost one million inappropriate claims (FP17s) were submitted for payment. The types of suspected contractor fraud included patients not


receiving the level of treatment on the FP17 (50 per cent), split courses of treatment (27 per cent), patients not visiting the dentist (12 per cent), fictitious patients (10 per cent) and patients paying for treatment but marked as exempt on the FP17 (1 per cent). The report estimates that without some form of intervention a


further £146.38 million could be lost to fraud before the new dental contract is in place in April 2014. But the British Dental Association has urged caution in interpreting


the results. Dr John Milne, chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee, said: “These figures will need to be looked at carefully and understood to ensure that the cases of fraud are distinguished from cases where a course of treatment has been staged for legitimate reasons.


“It cannot be assumed that treatment that has been planned in a


phased way, or had to be restarted during what was intended to be a single course, is fraudulent; that simply isn’t the case. There are clinical factors that can explain both scenarios.”


EDITOR: Martin Nimmo


ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Joanne Curran


DENTAL CONTENT EDITOR: Claire Renton BDS FDS RCPS (Gla) MML


DESIGN: CMYK Design www.cmyk-design.co.uk


PRINT: Creative Print Group www.creativeprintgroup.co.uk


CORRESPONDENCE: SoundBite Editor MDDUS Mackintosh House 120 Blythswood Street Glasgow G2 4EA


t: e: 0845 270 2034 jcurran@mddus.com w: www.mddus.com


CPD ON


ORAL CANCER IMPROVING early detection of oral cancer is now a “recommended topic” in the GDC’s continuing professional development (CPD) scheme. CPD is a legal requirement of


SoundBite is published by The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Registered in Scotland No 5093 at Mackintosh House, 120 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 4EA. The MDDUS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MDDUS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.


registration with the GDC but there are currently no mandatory CPD topics. The GDC does identify certain ‘core’ topics that dental professionals should cover as part of their verifiable CPD, including medical emergencies, disinfection and decontamination and radiography and radiation protection (or materials and equipment for dental technicians).


The GDC also recommends some subjects that can be completed as verifiable or non-verifiable CPD. These are legal and ethical issues, complaints handling and, now, improving early detection of oral cancer. The GDC is reviewing its CPD


requirements and throughout 2012 work will continue to develop a future CPD model, extensive stakeholder engagement and public consultation. Any new CPD requirements will


not be introduced before 2013. More details at: www.gdc-uk.org


PHOTO: ROSLYN GAUNT


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