Need NHS contract overhaul to support preventative oral care - new report suggests

Dentists say that NHS contracts are unfavourable in providing adequate preventative oral care advice

The College of General Dentistry, in partnership with Haleon, has unveiled a new report outlining recommendations from oral health professionals on how to best improve the provision of preventative oral care.

The report includes insight-driven recommendations to bridge the gap between the intentions and practical delivery of this care.

Drawing on input from UK oral health professionals, the report highlighted the need for redesigned NHS contracts that would provide more time and financial support in giving preventative oral care advice.

It also called for increased resources to offer consistent preventative oral healthcare education to combat misinformation and promote healthier habits.

Other key recommendations from the report include:

• Working with the government to update the Delivering Better Oral Health Toolkit to make it simpler and more user-friendly.
• Launching a national communications campaign to tackle misinformation about oral care
• Encouraging businesses to include dental cover in their employee assistance programmes
• Supporting professional development with the provisions of preventative care focused continuous professional development (CPD).
• Engaging non-dental health professionals such as health visitors and midwives to inform them about the benefits of preventative oral care.

Bas Vorsteveld, Vice President and General Manager for Great Britain and Ireland at Haleon, welcomed the new Labour government's plan to rescue the UK's dental sector.

However, he urged the government to go further and “make NHS contracts fit for purpose by prioritising prevention.”

“Only by working alongside the profession and industry can the new government make the step-change that UK dentistry clearly needs,” he said.

The report also highlighted wider societal barriers to improving preventative oral care, such as:

• Competing narratives around oral health
• Diet and appearance from social media
• The erosion of long-term patient relationships
• A continuing professional skew in some dental practices towards clinical treatments
• A tendency in the wider health care community to leave simple oral health advice messages to the professionals

Roshni Karia, President of the College of General Dentistry, highlighted a troubling insight from the focus groups, revealing that many dentists often feel isolated in their efforts to combat deep-rooted patient habits around oral health care.

She pointed out that this struggle is exacerbated by NHS https://www.nhs.uk/contracts that are “unfavourable to providing adequate preventative advice.”

“Our work with Haleon highlights the need to take action to support oral health professionals in a real time of need,” she added.