Christmas is a time of indulgence, but it can take its toll on teeth Thursday, 13 January 2011
Sweet and sour
Christmas is a time of indulgence, but it can take its toll on teeth Christmas is a great time to enjoy sweet treats: cake, pudding and mince pies are all part of the festive fayre. But they can also take their toll on your teeth. In this week's "Scrubbing Up", dentistry expert Professor Jimmy Steele, says that patients who consume sugary diets and do not look after their teeth, should not get expensive dental treatments on the NHS.
One of the things that marks dentistry out as "different" in the NHS is the patient charge; the state puts in over £2bn a year in England to support NHS dentistry - but most adults have to pay some charges.
Dentistry is highly skilled, complex, individualised and is never cheap in any system, so patients, one way or the other, are used to paying a direct cost.
But do the presence of charges, whether NHS or private, distort the way we think about the service we receive, and does the way that dentists are paid affect how services are provided?
With Christmas shopping done and January sales approaching, we are all pretty familiar with the concept of getting something tangible for what we spend.
But when it comes to health, and particularly to oral health, there are a few problems with this basic relationship between money, value and goods.
Professor Jimmy Steele Newcastle University“ should the dental team be paid to stop disease before it starts even if that means less treatment?”
For a start, it does not make any real sense to want "more" fillings for less money; given the choice I think most of us would choose to have no fillings at all, if possible.
Teeth start healthy, it is neglect, poor hygiene, and the consequent disease and treatment that cost.
So, are we all prepared to pay to avoid treatment then? And should the dental team be paid to stop disease before it starts even if that means less treatment?
Last week the coalition government announced pilots for a new dental contract where the dentist will be paid for the number of patients they look after and the health outcomes they achieve rather than for the fillings, crowns or root treatments they provide.
A system like this should give clear incentives to the dental team to help the patient minimise the risk of disease up front, rather than wait for it to appear and then treat it.
Patients will still pay, so you may get less treatments, but better health for your money. This is surely right for a health service.
“If taxpayers are contributing to the NHS to provide costl
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment