Dental report shares preventative dentistry will help NHS

Dental Tribune UK & Ireland

Thu. 8 June 2023

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A new report commissioned by the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme has found that rolling out three preventative oral health interventions could reduce unnecessary trips to the dentist, saving individuals and the NHS millions of pounds, while freeing up capacity to deliver up to 8.3m more check-ups.

The report, Economic Value of Good Oral Health, was undertaken by Frontier Economics and has been launched to mark our National Smile Month campaign.

If implemented in the UK over the course of a year, water fluoridation programmes, sugar-free chewing gum and supervised toothbrushing could result in:

1.43m fewer tooth extractions.
1.6m fewer fillings.
265,000 fewer root canal treatments.

The associated savings to NHS dental services could also reach over £51m.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation says: “The NHS is currently struggling to fund the dentistry this country needs and deserves. Pressures on staffing are hitting all areas of health care. A simple increase in funding will not sort out these problems for several years. In the meantime, it is evident that if we can move to a preventative approach, we can have much healthier mouths.”

The report shares insights including:

Water fluoridation for 100,000 people could lead to 6,000 caries being avoided each year. This could mean 2,400 fewer extractions, 3,000 fewer fillings and 420 root canal treatments being avoided. In addition, 1.3% of check-ups could be avoided. The total cost savings to NHS patients would be approximately £142,800 (and greater for private patients, who are similar in number and tend to pay higher dental charges) and total savings to the NHS would be approximately £130,800. By re-investing this saving, the NHS could provide approximately 21,400 additional patient check-ups.²

Sugarfree gum being chewed by 62,000 older children and adults could lead to 620 caries being avoided each year. This could mean 186 fewer extractions, 310 fewer fillings and 62 root canal treatments being avoided. In addition, 1.3% of check-ups could be avoided. The total cost savings to NHS patients would be approximately £31,000¹ (and greater for private patients, who are similar in number and tend to pay higher dental charges) and total savings to the NHS would be approximately £26,900.³ By re-investing this saving, the NHS could provide approximately 4,400 additional patient check-ups.

Supervised brushing being provided to 1,000 younger children could lead to 105 caries being avoided each year. This could mean 52 fewer extractions, 52 fewer fillings and 5 root canal treatments being avoided. In addition, 5% of check-ups could be avoided. The total cost savings to NHS patients would be approximately £2,300 (and greater for private patients, who are similar in number and tend to pay higher dental charges) and total savings to the NHS would be approximately £29,300.⁴ By re-investing this saving, the NHS could provide approximately 4,800 additional patient check-ups.

Read the full report here: www.frontier-economics.com/media/5894/frontier-preventative-oral-health-value.pdf.

Editorial note:

Sources:

¹Savings of £2.86 to the patient and £2.62 to the NHS, per NHS patient (assumed to be 50%), multiplied by 100,000.

²Based on an average cost to the NHS of £6.12 per check-up, net of patient income.

³Savings of £1.00 to the patient and £0.87 to the NHS, per NHS patient (assumed to be 50%), multiplied by 62,000.

⁴ 48 Savings of £4.67 to the patient and £58.69 to the NHS, per NHS patient (assumed to be 50%), multiplied by 1,000.

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