'Sustainability in the NHS': a novel method for teaching sustainable dentistry and quality improvement to dental core trainees.

The practice of dentistry contributes to 3% of the carbon footprint of the NHS. As awareness and concern about climate change increases, all dental care professionals must play their part in reducing the environmental impact of the care they provide. This paper aims to describe a novel method of teaching, both the theory and practical application of sustainable dentistry, by integrating sustainable quality improvement methods into the existing management and leadership requirements of dental core training.

An incremental approach? An honest approach would be better.

This paper argues that before continuing to search for a satisfactory contract for the provision of dental care through the NHS, it is not incrementalism that is necessary, but honesty.

Impact of the Covid pandemic on health care equity in NHS General Dental Practice.

INTRODUCTION: Oral health inequalities existed before Covid, but the pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge for health services. Our aim was to determine whether patient groups at risk of health care inequality due to the pandemic could be identified from NHS dental claims. METHODS: Secondary analysis of routinely collected NHS Business Services Authority data for patients treated by General Dental Practitioners in England and Wales between April 2019 and January 2022 to assess the effect of the Covid pandemic on claims for patients attending general dental practices. Data for treatment items claimed after the start of the first lockdown were compared to the pre-lockdown period. RESULTS: The proportion of claims for child fillings, child extractions and child fluoride varnish application after March 2020 were lower than equivalent proportions for adults, in both England and Wales. Similarly, there were consistently fewer claims for fillings and extractions for patients claiming pension credit guarantee credit than all pensioners in both England and Wales. CONCLUSION: The Covid pandemic may have caused health care inequality for children and patients claiming pension credit guarantee credit. This may compound the inequality in oral health for these patients.

The influence of gender on career aspirations of University of Birmingham dental students and junior trainees in the West Midlands.

Aims To investigate the gender differences among University of Birmingham dental students and dental core trainees (junior trainees within four years of graduation) in the West Midlands, and to assess career aspirations and working patterns.Methods A questionnaire was distributed to 189 dental students in years 2, 3 and 4 and to 24 dental core trainees. Data were collected in July 2017 by means of a paper questionnaire. A pilot of 40 questionnaires was carried out to ensure the validity of the questionnaire. All data were processed with Microsoft Excel.Results Seventy percent of individuals indicated work-life balance was their reason for choosing dentistry, made up of 25% males and 45% females. A larger percentage of female dentists opted to work in dental practice-based settings. Twenty-three percent of undergraduates want to specialise in the future, two-thirds of which were female. In comparison, 83% of the dental core trainees in our cohort want to specialise - 60% of males and 100% of females. The remaining 40% of male dental core trainees answered 'unsure' rather than 'no'. Restorative dentistry, orthodontics and oral surgery were the most popular choice of specialist training. Oral surgery was chosen by nearly twice as many females as males. Paediatric dentistry was selected mostly by females.Conclusion Women are making up a greater percentage of dental students at the University of Birmingham; their career aspirations and working patterns could have future implications for workforce planning.

What will be the new normal for the dental industry?

The COVID-19 situation has seen the cessation of all non-urgent dental care in the UK. Regular practice activity has come to a virtual standstill and the dental industry has seen a very significant reduction in its provision of products and services. There are differing government financial mitigations in place across dental practices for NHS and, to an extent private, activity, as well as for the dental industry. Dentistry is generally classified in the very high-risk category of aerosol production through many aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). To facilitate any move towards the resumption of widespread dental treatment, possibly without mass vaccination or the widespread use of antibody testing, the aerosol issue will need to be addressed and solved. From a dental industry perspective, equipment and product manufacturers and suppliers are building upon, and further developing, the industry's extremely close relationship and partnership with the dental profession, in order to develop and implement new ways of thinking and new approaches, products and techniques to protect patients and clinicians, focusing on a return to the more widespread provision of dentistry.