DT News - UK - Scotland elects to not proceed with 24-month-interval treatment plans

Dental Tribune UK

Tue. 11 December 2018

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STIRLING, Scotland: The Scottish government has clarified that it will not introduce the recommended 24-month recall intervals for “low-risk” dental patients after an outcry from dental professionals in the country.

The recommendations were put forward as part of the government’s Oral Health Improvement Plan (OHIP), which cited the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines that patients who are not considered to be “at risk of or from oral disease” have their recall interval extended to up to 24 months.

However, a recent survey conducted by the British Dental Association (BDA) found that 97 per cent of responding Scottish dentists were concerned that extending recall intervals to this length of time could undermine the detection of oral cancers. There has been a 37 per cent increase in oral cancer deaths in Scotland over the past decade and the survival rate for oral cancer can improve by 50 to 90 per cent with early detection.

The BDA’s Scottish Council warmly received the government’s decision, which it had feared was driven by a desire to reduce costs. “We welcome assurances that 24-month dental recall intervals will not be introduced—and that 'high-risk' patients will be seen more frequently than those in good oral health,” said Dr Robert Donald, Chair of the BDA’s Scottish Council.

“The Scottish Government has acknowledged publicly that we are right to raise our concerns on this issue. The profession will have a further period of discussion with government to explore these concerns and hopefully come to a sensible solution that does not put our patients’ lives at risk.”

“This will come as welcome news for patients and practitioners. Our members were clear that telling 'low-risk' patients to come back in 24 months would only undermine efforts to meet a growing threat, while putting needless pressure on NHS cancer services. We believe that patients should ideally be seen every six months, and that 'high-risk' patients should be seen more frequently.”

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