The JDC and dental research

The Joint Dental Committee exists to achieve greater collaboration between the research councils and health departments, and to better coordinate and promote research in the dental field. Here, the Committee describes its work, giving an insight into its aims and aspirations.

[Economic aspects of alveolitis]

In 1680 cases of alveolitis ("dry socket") the national economic-loss is more than 339,693.-marks. Nearly 3 million teeth will be extracted in one year in the DDR. By a valuation of nearly 3% of the alveolitis 90,000 patients have this complication. That will be a economic-loss of 18.1 million marks in one year. The prophylaxis of this complication is therefore a most important problem.

The capitation study. 1. Does capitation encourage "supervised neglect'?

Four matched pairs of geographically and socially contrasting areas of Britain were randomly allocated within pairs to either a capitation or fee-for-service payment system for the dental care of children in a 3-year clinical trial. Measurements were made on the dental health of randomly selected 5-6 and 14-15-year-old patients and the views of their parents elicited. Patterns of treatment were also gained from the clinical records of randomly selected patients. In addition, the views of the dentists taking part, of the profession's representatives, and of the administrators of the systems were obtained. No evidence of systematic neglect could be found among the children treated under capitation, but they had fewer fillings, more untreated diseased teeth and similar disease levels to their counterparts treated under fee-for-service. Dentists in capitation carried out fewer fillings, fewer extractions, took fewer radiographs and saw their patients less frequently than their fee-for-service colleagues.

Maxillofacial surgery: the economic aspect

Fifteen years ago when the expenditure on the National Health Service was 2600 million pounds annually, an economic survey of the then more common procedures carried out by oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the UK was undertaken. After three reorganisations of the NHS with a fourth pending the overall cost has escalated to 21.6 billion pounds. The specialty has also seen significant change with a broader spectrum of work being carried out and a greater proportion of major cases being undertaken. The paper shows how previously costed procedures have changed; for example with increasing use of day care facilities and internal fixation techniques, before moving on to consider costings for the more advanced operations now being carried out on a regular basis. In an era of resource management with progressive stringency of funding in the acute sector it has been suggested that some procedures are uneconomical and others possibly should not take high priority. Under these circumstances it has become especially important to justify all facets of practice of the specialty and this aspect is considered in terms of the cost to the National Health Service, the quality of life of the patient and the cost to the economy as a whole in Social Security benefits and loss of productivity.

A trial of a capitation system of payment for the treatment of children in the General Dental Service. Final report. Dental Health Services Research Unit, University of Manchester. September, 1989

A 3-year clinical trial comparing capitation and fee-for-service remuneration systems for general dental practitioners for the treatment of children has been successfully completed. Capitation dentists restored carious teeth at a later stage in the disease process than fee-for-service controls, and carried out more preventive treatment and advice. However, the disease experience of their patients was little different from that of patients treated under fee-for-service. Capitation dentists saw their patients less frequently and took fewer radiographs than their fee-for-service colleagues. The prevalence of both fissue sealants and arrested caries was low in both groups, as was the prevalence of teeth extracted as a result of caries. Levels of oral cleanliness were similar under both systems. Private treatment was rarely prescribed for children, but was more prevalent for patients of fee-for-service dentists. The profession felt that capitation offered greater clinical freedom and more financial stability to dentists, but a greater temptation to under-prescribe treatment. The profession lacked commitment to capitation as a method of remuneration for the treatment of children in the General Dental Service. Fee-for-service dentists appeared to be more innovative, expressed a greater allegiance to their patients and felt a greater temptation to over-prescribe than capitation dentists. The parents had a high opinion of the service for children, irrespective of the remuneration system, and the children found the service very acceptable. Parents had a stronger allegiance to the fee-for-service than the capitation dentists. The study revealed several short-comings in the capitation model tested, but solutions to all of these became apparent. A capitation agreement of more than 12 months would simplify administration and reduce costs, as would a reduction in the number of forms. The need to notify parents when a dentist was replaced in a practice created considerable difficulties and increased expense. The treatment of trauma and extractions for orthodontic purposes should have been items excluded from the capitation fee. The need for information on dentists' activity in capitation was accepted but should be kept simple and relevant. Monitoring quality of care under capitation can be carried out from the routine data collected for administrative purposes. Capitation does not appear to increase participation. Costs of administering capitation are little different from those for fee-for-service. More resources were spent per dentist and per patient under capitation than fee-for-service. In the clinical trial fee-for-service was more cost-effective than capitation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)