News

1. What is your position in the BSP and what does this role involve? I am a member of Council and represent the BSP on the Specialty Advisory Committee for Restorative Dentistry. The SAC committees are intercollegiate bodies which advise on higher specialist training in the dental specialties and this committee advises on the specialties of Periodontics, Endodontics and Prosthodontics with Restorative Dentistry. We meet twice a year at the Royal College of Surgeons in London with an agenda packed with acronyms…. a steep learning curve to work out who and what was being discussed! I then bring what is discussed back to Council for their information, consideration and comment. Other work undertaken by the SACs is to review and update specialist training curricula, quality assure specialist training programmes in the UK, and review applications to the GDC specialist lists.

We have received a message from the Office of the Chief Dental Officer regarding Population Health Fellowships. Please see below for full details.

As you can see from all the items below, things have been busy over the last few weeks and I thank BSP Council members, including Paula and Tamsin, for their hard work. Bookings are now open for next year’s Conference, as well as for the very relevant September webinar, given by our 2021 President. Council are currently finalising our reply to the current Health and Social Care Committee Inquiry, for which the deadline is approaching.

We are delighted to announce that bookings are now open for the BSP Conference 2020.

We have been advised that The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) has announced the launch of its second app, the SDCEP Dental Companion.

We continually work closely with a number of professionals and organisations to promote a better understanding of periodontitis, its impact on patients and links with systemic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

We wish to bring to your attention that The Office of Chief Dental Officer, and NHS England & NHS Improvement National Diabetes Prevention Programme have produced the commissioning standard: Dental Care for People with Diabetes. This Commissioning Standard will support the local implementation of pathways for patients to enable the benefits of timely and effective periodontal management on oral health and importantly general health to be realised. It recognises that people with type 2 and type 1 diabetes need to access effective dental care and that care pathways should be developed to support this. This will require local engagement between providers and commissioners of dental services and diabetes services, and the commissioning of dental services with the appropriate skills and competences to deliver the care required.

The Oral Health Foundation has released its new corporate strategy. They are aiming to focus not just on the UK but also global oral health demands and inequalities, from now until 2024. It is available on their website.

The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee is holding an inquiry into dentistry services. The Committee is inviting written submissions on the following issues: • What is the state of the relationship between the NHS and dentistry? How satisfactory are the arrangements for the provision of dental services by the NHS? Are current arrangements contributing to the widening of health inequality? • How could access to NHS dentistry be improved? Are there inequalities in access to dentistry services? If so, why, and what could be done to address them? • Where does dentistry fit within NHS primary care services? What opportunities are presented by the development of primary care networks? • What issues are affecting the wider dental workforce? What steps need to be taken to address them? Is sufficient data available on the workforce and if not, how should it be improved? • What are the issues in commissioning and payment systems for NHS dental services? How can they be improved? • What needs to be included in, or removed from, the forthcoming NHS dental contract? • Is there enough focus on prevention in dentistry and what are the avoidable harms that could be addressed? What more can be done to encourage prevention and what can be learnt from best practice in other parts of the UK and EU? • What should be done around fluoridation policy and what is the evidence base to support it?