Dental Prof

Recognising excellence in practice websites

- This year sees the launch of the inaugural Dentistry.co.uk Website Awards. Read on to see how your practice can have its online efforts officially rewarded.

Producing and developing a quality practice website has never been more important in today's dental industry.

A website can go a long way towards marketing a surgery and, if used effectively, can prove to be a highly successful tool in boosting your practice profile and attracting new patients.

Although the concept of practice websites is nothing new, patient expectations are higher than ever before. Gone are the days of just a fancy home page and a few 'meet the team' style biographies - the modern practice website needs to have a lot more to it in terms of style and function.

Content must be truly informative, in terms of both quality and quantity, while the design needs to be user-friendly and strike a chord with the appropriate target audience. Patient cases can help build the credibility of the site, and they should be represented with high-quality images, smile galleries and testimonials, while the surgery must be presented in a professional and approachable manner. Profile-raising needs to be exploited fully through search engine optimisation (SEO) - a slick, professional site that can be found on the first page of Google is what you should be aiming for.

Flash animation should also be considered to bring the site to life, especially as most households now have broadband. Essentially, patients need to be impressed enough by a practice website that they are spurred to make an appointment or recommend it to family, friends and colleagues.

And the marketing doesn't stop there. The website can be highlighted on all practice stationery, signage and reminders, and used to show past cases or testamonials even before starting treatment.

The worldwide web has also provided the public with a shrewd tool to compare the respective merits of dentists without having to physically visit the practice or pick up the phone and talk to staff. Therefore, standing out amongst competitors online is important for any dentist, particularly in the private sector. In order to stand out, you need to stand for something, and what many dental websites are now doing is targeting a specific patient profile. Every practice has unique patient demographics depending on location, modernity and selection of treatments, and tailoring the website to those requirements is crucial. Dentistry.co.uk has seen how practices throughout the UK have made vast improvements in their online services/marketing, particularly over the last year.

With this in mind, we feel it's time those efforts were rewarded. The Dentistry.co.uk Website Awards 2007, sponsored by Dental Focus Web Design, are a significant step forward in establishing the importance of an effective practice website and the time and expertise that goes into developing them.

Krishan Joshi, project manager at Dental Focus Web Design, echoed that sentiment, saying: 'We're really excited to be part of the Dentistry.co.uk Website Awards. This gives the profession the opportunity to be rewarded and officially recognised for their hard work and efforts in creating successful websites, which are worthwhile to both new and existing patients.'

Format
Practices can enter the awards by visiting www.dentistry.co.uk/webawards. The deadline for entries is 1 September and the finalists will be announced on 19 September. The winners will then be revealed on 10 October. There are three awards - Best Website, Most Improved Site and Best New Website - available in each of the four categories: NHS, Private, Mixed, and Specialist.

Criteria
When selecting the finalists and winners, the judging panel will be looking for qualities such as the following:
. Look and feel of the site
. Quality of informative content
. User-friendly features
. Whether it makes a good impression
. How it appeals to the right audience
. Real patient cases - relevant pictures and testimonials
. Surgery presentation
. Search engine optimisation
. Technical/video/animation expertise.

Your opportunity
Don't miss your chance to win an award in this growing area of the dental profession. Online expertise is becoming an increasingly creative and effective force, and it's high time that talent was acknowledged. The Dentistry.co.uk Website Awards 2007, sponsored by Dental Focus Web Design, give your practice its chance to shine. Visit www.dentistry.co.uk/webawards to enter.

New BDTA president announced

- Simon Gambold has been elected as the next president of the British Dental Trade Association (BDTA).

The announcement was made following the association's annual general meeting at its annual conference in Liverpool last week.

Almost 100 people from BDTA-member companies attended the two-day event, which took place at the Radisson SAS hotel, to listen to presentations by well- known names in dentistry.

At the AGM, which opened the Conference, Mr Gambold of Henry Schein was elected as the association's next president. Edward Attenborough of Attenborough Dental was elected as vice-president. Both positions will take affect from 1 January 2008, after the official handover has taken place at the BDTA midwinter meeting in December.

Dr Brian Schotlander was re-elected to the Council while Kate Scheer, marketing manager at KaVo Dental, Karen Turner, general manager at Dentafix, and Terry Porter, IT manager at The Dental Directory, were all elected as new members of the Council.

For further information on the BDTA visit www.bdta.org.uk or telephone 01494 782873.

£22m dental underspend in Wales

- Local health boards in Wales are believed to have underspent money intended to improve access to NHS dentistry by almost £22m.

The news comes as patients are struggling to register for NHS care in the country. Areas of West and North Wales are experiencing a huge shortage of NHS dentists as existing practices are full and unable to take on new patients.

The £21.7m projected underspend is enough to pay for new contracts for NHS dentists in some of the worst-affected regions of Wales, according to the Western Mail.

Stuart Geddes, director of the British Dental Association in Wales, said: 'This certainly hasn't helped access to NHS dentistry - the difficulty will be if there are not enough dentists to see the people who want treatment. Practices are under tremendous pressure to fulfil their targets for workload but they don't want to see patients who require lots and lots of work, because, under the new contract, they only make up a small number of units of dental activity.

'We haven't yet seen any queues in the streets but we are hearing of practices that are at capacity and unable to take on more patients.'

The £21.7m figure, caused by dentists being unable to meat 'unrealistic' UDA targets, is a provisional estimate of the total underspend for the first year under the new dental contract. The final figures will be available in two months.

Helen Mary Jones, Plaid Cymru's Shadow Health Minister, said: 'An underspend of this size will have a huge impact on patient care.

'There have been some improvements in access in the last 12 months, but there are still areas where there are huge, huge problems. That local health boards should be sending any money back when there is such a need is absolutely shocking. It is completely unforgivable that this kind of money is not being spent.'

Jonathan Morgan, Conservative health spokesman, added: 'This is utterly disgusting. When you consider that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people the length and breadth of Wales who are unable to access NHS dentistry, we discover that local health boards have underspent the new contract money by £22m.

'I believe it is time for a thorough review into the implementation of the contract and to see how public money is being spent. I am not convinced at all that the new contract is leading to an increase in the number of people who are registered with a dentist and have the opportunity of improving their oral health.'

An Assembly Government spokesman, however, said: 'We do not recognise these figures.

'The significant investment in the new contract has made a very noticeable difference in access across Wales and problems are now confined to a very few areas including Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Anglesey.

'Work goes on to improve the position in these areas and we expect further progress over the next few months so that everyone in Wales who wants access to an NHS dentist will be able to get one.'

DDU seeks two-way fairness

- The Dental Defence Union (DDU) has responded to the government's proposals to reform the NHS complaints procedure by saying the new system must be fair to those who are complained about, as well as complainants.

Responding to the Department of Health's proposals, titled Making Experiences Count - the proposed new arrangements for handling health and social care complaints (June 2007), the DDU claims patients as well as dental professionals should be considered.

Rupert Hoppenbrouwers, head of the DDU, said: 'We support the principle of a simplified two-stage, NHS complaints procedure outlined in the document Making Experiences Count in which complaints are first addressed locally and, if this is unsuccessful, reviewed by the Ombudsman.

'The procedure should be easy for patients to understand and use, and we welcome the emphasis on resolving concerns effectively locally. We strongly endorse the principle of local resolution. In fact, most dental complaints notified to us are resolved at local level. However, it is important that the new procedure is fair to dental professionals who are complained about, as well as to those making the complaint.

'We understand the reasons given for allowing a patient to complain to another body such as a PCT if, for example, the patient's relationship with a dentist has broken down badly, but the dentist who is the subject of the complaint should still be involved and must be allowed to contribute to the response to the complaint.

'The Dental Complaints Service (DCS), which was established to review complaints about private treatment, has been successful in liaising with practices when it receives complaints and referring them back so they can be resolved locally. It is only fair that the dentist is allowed the opportunity to say what happened and also, as appropriate, to apologise and learn from the complaint, as well as taking responsibility for any changes that may be necessary as a result.

'We have long advised our members to take all complaints seriously and to learn from them as part of their adverse incident procedures. For example, by identifying where systems need to be put in place to try to prevent mistakes happening again. Naturally, we back the emphasis on preventing harm, reducing risks and learning from complaints.'

ADP step in with Oasis bid

- Associated Dental Practices (ADP) has made an £84.9m offer for Oasis Healthcare, trumping a previous £76.9m bid for the company.

Britain's largest dental firm had initially been offered £76.9m from private equity company Duke Street Capital last week.

But now ADP, itself the UK's third biggest dental firm which currently owns more than 18% of Norwich-based Oasis, said it would seek a meeting with the company's board.

The company aims to gain a recommendation for the offer and said a combination of the two businesses would create a dental giant with 190 practices nationwide and a 'strong platform' to grow private and NHS business.

Compulsory CPD coming soon

- Following public consultation, the GDC has agreed that all dental care professionals (DCPs) will be required to complete and record 150 hours of continuing professional development every five years, a third of which should be verifiable.

This requirement is expected to be introduced from July 2008 when registration will become compulsory for dental nurses and technicians.

Dental care professionals will be required to complete CPD in the same core subjects as dentists, which are:
. medical emergencies (10 hours per cycle)
. disinfection and decontamination (5 hours per cycle)
. radiography and radiation protection (5 hours per cycle)

Dental technicians should substitute radiography and radiation protection for materials and equipment (5 hours per cycle) as radiography is not within the dental technician curriculum.

In line with the dentists' CPD scheme, the GDC recommends that DCPs involved in the care of patients should undertake CPD in legal and ethical issues and complaints handling.

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive and registrar, said: 'Compulsory CPD maintains public confidence in the Dentists and Dental Care Professionals Registers by showing that dentists and registered dental care professionals keep up to date so that they can give their patients a good standard of care.

'The CPD hours requirement is lower for dental care professionals than for dentists as CPD provision is still developing for these groups. We would like to see greater availability of training courses for dental care professionals and hope the introduction of compulsory CPD will drive this provision.'

There are many ways for dental care professionals to complete CPD, ranging from attendance at courses, lectures and staff training to reading journals and private study. Further information about CPD for DCPs is available on the GDC website at www.gdc-uk.org.

NHS access rise in Hull

- More than 13,000 new NHS dentist places are being made available over the next year to patients across East Yorkshire.

The news follows an investment of nearly £1m by Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) into NHS dental services.

John Hinchliffe, adviser in dental public health for the trust, said he expects high demand for the places within Hull and East Riding, and that patients will be able to call a dedicated hotline to secure places.

He told the Hull Daily Mail: 'There has always been a flow between Hull and the East Riding.

'It is still not easy finding an NHS dentist, but the situation is improving and will continue to improve. The reason we are in this situation is because demand is so high.

'It has been historically difficult to draw in dentists to Hull, but now dentists who want to set up practices have to go where the trusts with the money are.'

Dr Duncan Ross, director of commissioning and procurement at East Riding of Yorkshire PCT, said: 'East Riding PCT has made good progress toward widening provision in recent months.

'Since the new national dental contract was introduced in April 2005, the PCT has set up contracts for NHS dental care with dental practices in Beverley, Driffield and Hessle creating provision for about 13,500 additional patients.

'The number of individuals on waiting in the East Riding has also steadily decreased. We are aware of the difficulties in accessing NHS dental services, which is a national problem, and we will continue our efforts to attract new dentists to the area.'

Schottlander support for denturism

- Dr Brian Schottlander said he was honoured to open the recent World Symposium on Private Dental Technology & Denturism at the Ricoh Centre in Coventry.

Dr Schottlander said it gave him particular pleasure that the practice of clinical dental technology is now legal in the UK, and that those who practise it can now be proud to be members of their healthcare profession, the profession of denturism.

Dr Schottlander went on to say that his company had supported denturism well before it was fashionable to do so. This was because, he said, 'of the rightness of the denturist case and my belief in the difference that well-made aesthetic dentures make to the quality of life of those who need to wear them.'

He added: 'Dentist-provided dentures are one route and denturist-provided dentures another. It is not a case of one or the other - both are complementary and can and should co-exist. Equally, if the potential for improved patient care is to be realised, both sets of personnel need proper validated professional training pathways in the knowledge and skills required for prosthetic dentistry.'

Dentist facing child porn charges suspended

- A dentist facing child porn charges has been suspended from practising by the General Dental Council.

Barrington 'Barry' Keen, of Rickmansworth, appeared in Watford Magistrates Court where it was alleged he downloaded 16,000 child porn images.

When he appeared in court on Wednesday, June 13, he entered no plea to 20 specimen counts in relation to pictures involving child porn.

On June 19 the GDC suspended Keen's registration until a full hearing into the allegations had been heard.

Keen, who was arrested by police more than a year ago, is due to return to court on August 14.

Course expands to meet demand

- The Dental Implant Clinic, based in Bath, has announced that it will be increasing the number of 'Live Skills' Dental Implant courses it offers in 2008 to meet growing demand.

The practice's success has been built off the back of its unique approach and its conversion rate, which has seen all of its student dentists place implants in their own practice on completion of the course.

The 'Live Skills' course provides students with pre-selected patient cases, insight and training on how to set up there own implant practice, and training from a team of implantologists with over 40 years experience.

Some of the subjects covered on the course include: Implant surfaces, history of Osseo integration, indications for implants, phases of implant treatment, treatment planning, bone volume assessment, radiographic calibration using manual tracing and software, surgical set up, flap design, implant placement in plastic mandibles hands on, surgical complications, healing phase and soft tissue contouring.

Earlier this year, the clinic opened the UK's first dedicated dental implant theatre. The theatre, which took six months to build, provides a dedicated room to do everything from a single implant to total mouth reconstructions involving bone grafting, sinus lifting and other complex procedures.

Jonathon Schofield, founder of The Dental Implant Clinic and a nationally renowned implantologist, said: 'Our Live Skills course has grown in popularity as we are not only one of the few practices that provide pre-selected patients for each student, we also have the collective knowledge and training facilities which are second to none.

'We also receive extremely positive feedback about the social aspect of our courses and the convenience of location, with students staying in a hotel next door to the practice.'

The Dental Implant Clinic also run courses on implant surgery for nurses. For further information on the courses call 01225 448400 or email Jonathon.schofield@thedentalimplantclinic.com.