The first is the launch of new national standards for the use of conscious sedation in the delivery of dental care.
The use of conscious sedation for the treatment of anxious patients is vital for paediatric dentists and BSPD has been concerned for some time at the regional inequalities in accessing conscious sedation services.
The new national standards have been produced by the Intercollegiate Advisory Committee for Sedation in Dentistry (IACSD) and define the education and training required by those who work in sedation teams, whether they are dentists, doctors, nurses or dental care professionals as well as the settings where conscious sedation should take place.
Of significance to paediatric dentistry is that children under 12 years whose oral health needs cannot be met with care under local analgesia and inhalation sedation should now be referred to a specialist sedation team for assessment.
Janice Fearne, President of BSPD was at the launch at the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons along with Isabelle Holroyd, BSPD’s representative on the IACSD working group.
Janice welcomed the improvement in patient safety that the new standards would help bring about. She highlighted that in the short-term there might be a pressure on services because more children will be referred into hospital.
“We will also need to ensure that there is increased availability of accredited courses which will allow those currently providing ‘in-house’ training to remain up to date themselves.”
Janice said: “BSPD welcomes the strong focus on patient safety and recognises that our challenge now is to work with other special interest groups and those commissioning paediatric dental sedation services to support the implementation of these important recommendations.”
She said BSPD looked forward to working with the Dental Sedation Teachers Group and Consultant anaesthetist colleagues to ensure that the requirements of the new standards which relate to children are swiftly met.
The second important change is from the General Dental Council (GDC) which has announced that 'safeguarding children and young people' is to be included as a recommended continuing professional development (CPD) topic for dental professionals.
Jenny Harris, a member of BSPD, was the chair of the working party for Child Protection and the Dental Team and welcomed the change. She and other members of BSPD have been pressing for safeguarding to be made a CPD topic.
The GDC already lists several 'highly recommended' topics as part of verifiable CPD. They are: medical emergencies, disinfection and decontamination and radiography and radiation protection (or materials and equipment for dental technicians).
The GDC also lists the 'recommended topics' of legal and ethical issues, complaints handling, and oral cancer: improving early detection. Safeguarding children and young people and safeguarding vulnerable adults have now been added to this list. Recommended topics may be either verifiable or non-verifiable CPD.
Claire Stevens, spokesperson for BSPD said: “Both these developments are important and will have an impact on the way we manage and treat children we care for. In a year when the theme of the 25th congress of the International Association of Paediatric Dentistry is “The Voice of the Child”, we are pleased to see sedation services will be more standardised and that the General Dental Council is placing greater emphasis on safeguarding.”