Complexities associated with orthodontic services in the National Health Service

Unlocking the potential of NHS primary care dental datasets

Introduction Maximising the use of routinely collected health data for research is a key part of the UK Government's Industrial Strategy. Rich data are generated by NHS primary care dental services, but the extent of their use in research is unknown.Aims To profile the utility of the post-2006 NHS dental datasets for research, map how they have been used to date and develop recommendations to maximise their utility.Methods The content of and access to the four UK NHS dental datasets was collated using publicly available information and a free-text questionnaire, completed by the relevant data controllers. A scoping review was carried out to identify and map literature that has utilised NHS dental activity data.Results The contents of the UK NHS dental activity datasets are described, alongside how they may be accessed for research. Strengths and weaknesses of these datasets for research are highlighted. The scoping review identified 33 studies which had utilised NHS dental activity data since 2006. We classified 15 as public health practice, 11 as service evaluation and 7 as research.Conclusion In comparision to other NHS activity datasets, it appears that the UK dental datasets have been underutilised for research. We make 11 recommendations on how their utility for research may be increased.

Management of orthodontic emergencies in primary care - self-reported confidence of general dental practitioners

Objective To determine general dental practitioners' (GDPs) confidence in managing orthodontic emergencies.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Primary dental care.Subjects and methods An online survey was distributed to dentists practicing in Wales. The survey collected basic demographic information and included descriptions of ten common orthodontic emergency scenarios.Main outcome measure Respondents' self-reported confidence in managing the orthodontic emergency scenarios on a 5-point Likert scale. Differences between the Likert responses and the demographic variables were investigated using chi-squared tests.Results The median number of orthodontic emergencies encountered by respondents over the previous six months was 1. Overall, the self-reported confidence of respondents was high with 7 of the 10 scenarios presented scoring a median of 4 indicating that GDPs were 'confident' in their management. Statistical analysis revealed that GDPs who saw more orthodontic emergencies in the previous six months were more confident when managing the presented scenarios. Other variables such as age, gender, geographic location of practice and number of years practising dentistry were not associated with self-reported confidence.Conclusions Despite GDPs encountering very few orthodontic emergencies in primary care, they appear to be confident in dealing with commonly arising orthodontic emergency situations.