Is the cost of dental treatment giving OUR RESIDENTS toothache?

Presentation to the PCT

To find out how often the local population visits the dentist

To compare local statistics with national statistics

To find out the reasons for any decline in visits the dentist

To suggest a strategy for the PCT

Changes in: Dental service Costs of treatment Targets (UDAs)

Statistics Dept of Health

April 2006 – March 2007 28.1 million people with NHS dentist 50,000 fewer than in previous year

Dentistry Watch survey July-September 2007 50% of adults and 30% of children fail to visit a

dentist

78% of private dental patients

left the NHS because their dentist stopped treating NHS patients, or because they could not find an NHS dentist.

6% of all patients said they had treated themselves, including extracting their own teeth, because they were unable to get professional treatment

>50% of all patients (and almost 50% of all NHS patients)

didn't understand dental charges

Almost 20% of NHS Patients

have gone without treatment because of the cost

However …93% of those receiving NHS treatment

were happy with the treatment that is provided

Local residents do not visit the dentist as

often as they should because of the

increased cost of dental treatment.

Residents of my town will not visit the dentist as often as they should do.

A significant proportion of local residents will not be aware of the recommended frequency for visits.

Increased costs have affected the frequency of visits.

A significant proportion of local residents will not know the new NHS charges.

A greater proportion of local people will have a private dentist than an NHS dentist.

The local availability of NHS dentists will have decreased in the last 5 years.

Target population Sampling frame

SampleMethodSizeFrequency

Data protection Factors affecting reliability of data

Age band

Population %

Sampling frame

Male % Female %

Total %

<=18 26.3 15 15 30

19-29 13.8 7 7 14

30-44 23.3 12 12 24

45-64 24.2 12 12 24

>=65 12.4 4 4 8

109 questionnaires issued 54% return rate

target actual<=18 18 2019-29 8 1030-44 14 1645-64 14 13>=65 4 0

58 59

96.61% registered with a dentist Registered with an NHS dentist

52.54% registered with NHS dentist46.15% of all adults surveyed 65% of all ‘children’ interviewed

Type of registration:

Private 25 42.37%NHS 31 52.54%Don’t know 1 1.69%No response 2 3.39%

59

better dental care 2 8%

own went private 13 52%

could not find NHS 2 8%

family go there 5 20%

other 3 12%

25 100%

NHS Private

very satisfied 17 54.84% 14 56.00%

fairly satisfied 9 29.03% 83.87%

7 28.00%

84.00%

neither 3 9.68% 4 16.00%

fairly dissatisfied

2 6.45% 0 0.00%

very dissatisfied 0 0.00% 0 0.00%

  31 25

male dentist 37 66.67%

female dentist 18 33.33%

Gender of NHS dentists (% of total)

Male Female

England 60.9 39.1Telford And Wrekin PCT 53.1 46.9

Survey

Registered dentists

Band 1 Band 2 Band 3know 10 7 1don't know 49 52 58actual £15.90 £43.60 £194.00highest £42.70 £80.00 £189.00lowest £11.50 £30.00 £189.00average £21.40 £44.63 £189.00

Question They visited Recommend <18

Recommend adult

3 mths 2 3.4% 6 10.2% 0

6 mths 36 61% 46 78% 33 55.9%

12 mths 9 15.3% 6 10.2% 20 33.9%

2 years 2 3.4% 0 4 6.8%

only when problems 3 5.1% 1 1.7% 1 1.7%

when dentist tells me 6 10.2%   1 1.7%

no response 1 1.7% 0 0

59 59 59

Criterion Results Proved or not?

1 Residents of my town will not visit the dentist as often as they should do.

The sample visited the dentist more often than recommended and about the same as the national average

Not proved

2 A significant proportion of local residents will not be aware of the recommended frequency for visits.

About 90% of the population were not aware of the recommended frequency for under 18s. About 56% of the sample thought the recommendation for adults was more often than it was.

Proved

3 Increased costs have affected the frequency of visits.

People were not aware of the cost of treatment – this is unlikely to affect visits

Not proved

4 A significant proportion of local residents will not know the new NHS charges.

At least 90% of the sample did not know the current NHS dental charges

Proved

5 A greater proportion of local people will have a private dentist than an NHS dentist.

More of the sample went to an NHS dentist.% of patients with an NHS dentist is about the national average.

Not proved

6 The local availability of NHS dentists will have decreased in the last 5 years.

NHS Information Centre indicates that numbers have actually increased

Not proved

This hypothesis has not been supported because:1. Local residents visit the dentist every 6 to

12 months – on a par with the national average

2. Visits are more frequent than recommended

3. People were not aware of the cost of treatment – this is unlikely to affect visits

4. There are more NHS dentists in T&W than national average. More people went to an NHS dentist than a private one

Conduct further qualitative study on targeted groups

Educational campaign to highlight locally:Numbers of NHS dentistsHow to find an NHS dentistValue for money (including charges)