Dental Carers Portal – Dental Health Service

When it comes to prevention, we all have a role to play. To obtain a balanced and trustworthy perspective, where do you turn for information? How can you be sure of its reliability?

Most people tend to trust their health providers. While we can’t be experts in every field, we can direct individuals to resources that we consider current and trustworthy, all in the interest of promoting general health. Our goal is to provide a health service, unlike many pharmaceuticals and health corporations, whose primary focus is on returns for their shareholders rather than the well-being of their customers.

The advice provided here aligns with government guidelines for delivering better oral health. It will be curated by dental professionals and will incorporate insights from other health disciplines. The dental team can be the trustworthy Health Advocates our country needs.

DELIVERING BETTER ORAL HEALTH GOV.UK HEALTH INTEGRATION

When it comes to prevention, we all have a role to play. To obtain a balanced and trustworthy perspective, where do you turn for information? How can you be sure of its reliability?

Most people tend to trust their health providers. While we can’t be experts in every field, we can direct individuals to resources that we consider current and trustworthy, all in the interest of promoting general health. Our goal is to provide a health service, unlike many pharmaceuticals and health corporations, whose primary focus is on returns for their shareholders rather than the well-being of their customers.

The advice provided here aligns with government guidelines for delivering better oral health. It will be curated by dental professionals and will incorporate insights from other health disciplines. The dental team can be the trustworthy Health Advocates our country needs.

For DCP’s and anyone interested in dental history and how innovation occurs for all the wrong reasons.

I was invited to give a TED Talk on Promoting Public Prevention at the American Mobile Intelligent Dentistry Alliance in Portland, Oregon, USA, in February 2025. This is my practice run, and I shared it with Paul Glassman, a professor of public dental health in California with over 30 years of experience in improving public dental health.

To access one of his many papers, click the button below.

This video was produced by the American Dental Association in 2018, using a product recommended by Sarah Hurley, our Chief Dental Officer, during COVID-19. If it was effective in 2020, why aren’t we using it more widely now? In my opinion, it’s under-marketed by pharmaceutical companies because, like sodium hypochlorite, it’s too inexpensive and doesn’t have an appealing taste.

If only GSK or a similar company would create a coloured 38% SDF Pina Colada gel, similar to topical anaesthetics, it would likely be marketed more aggressively. This product could be promoted as a diagnostic solution that effectively treats active disease, as having a black mark on a tooth is far less traumatic than creating a space.

TELEDENTISTRY EXPERIENCE IN CALIFORNIA

One days training is enough to take blood.

According to the General Dental Council (GDC), one must be registered as a dental nurse before taking radiographs, as specified in the course. Additionally, the procedure must be prescribed as outlined in the current Dental Act of 1984 and must be authorised by a dentist.

With advances in digital radiogrophs, radiation doses have dropped dramatically, with current levels being comparable to what one might receive on a flight to Portugal. AI assessment tools are also improving exponentially.

So, why can’t you request a few standard dental X-rays and a mouth scan and some photos from a nurse? The report would state it’s an assessment, but for many it would at least be reassuring for the health monitoring they need, freeing up time for the dentist to deliver the new procedures some people want.

ORAL HEALTH PRACTITIONER COURSE

Like many dentists, I practiced ART before it was discovered by academics. I used to make Volk crowns—white crowns on the NHS using a hybrid material. My ideas on Minmally Invasive Dentistry (MID) can be found on the Teeth4Life website (teeth4life.org.uk).

During COVID, I delivered a three-hour Zoom talk on prevention and MID to foundation dentists. While I apologise for the length, the content is divided into six 20-minute sections that may be valuable. To stay at the forefront of 3D printing, be sure to follow the dentist clearly marked.

If you have any innovations that work, please consider sharing them. Conversely, if you’ve experienced repeated poor outcomes, definitely share those as well—potentially anonymously. We all learn more from our poor outcomes than from our successes.

How many of you have a scanner in your practice, and how often do you use it? In the United States, 64% of dental practices have scanners, while in the UK, it’s still around 10%, with many of those scanners rarely utilized. Anyone with a dental nursing degree and above can use a scanner. According to labs, dental nurses often produce better scans of dentures than dentists do.

I am currently testing the iPhone 16 to scan dentures, having previously trialed an iPhone 11 with the help of UWE two years ago, which wasn’t adequate for this purpose. The iPhone 16 may now work better, but dental scanners remain faster and just as portable. Investing in this technology can provide a great source of income for your practice and convenience for patients, both now and even more so in the future.

Regulation

It’s common for professions or services to have challenging relationships with their regulators, but the GDC is exceptional—unfortunately, not for the right reasons. A quick Google search or inquiry on ChatGPT will reveal various opinions from dentists. Here’s one from March 2025 provided by a lawyer.

https://www.sunilabeyewickreme.com/post/high-court-judge-lambasts-gdc-s-conduct

The public and the profession need something different.