Calling for a gear change

Eastside Dental is one of the two ‘prototype’ practices, where dentists are rewarded for prevention, rather than for the number of fillings they carry out. It uses dental nurses, hygienists and educators alongside dentists to try and encourage patients to take greater responsibility for their oral health, and focuses on preventing dental disease rather than treating it.

NHS dentistry across Wales is based on meeting government targets for procedures like fillings and crowns. The current system, designed to improve access and focus on prevention, failed on its owns terms following its introduction in 2006, receiving criticism from dentists, public health experts, main political parties, and the Chief Dental Officer for Wales.

A new type of contract has been in development for five years, with eight practices testing out its initial version between 2011 and 2015 and two of them moving on to trial the more advanced ‘prototype’ in April this year.

BDA Wales invited the Conservative health spokesperson Angela Burns AM to see the successful prototypes. She has joined BDA Wales in calling for these promising pilots to be rapidly expanded in communities across Wales, ahead of a potential national roll out.