Shortlist for extra dental pilot practices announced

Posted by Yvonne Wallace

The Department of Health has shortlisted an additional 29 new dental practices to join a pilot scheme currently trialling a new NHS dental contract.

All of the shortlisted practices will join the existing 70 already on the programme from April. The second stage of the trial has been expanded to help see how the different elements of the new proposals work together.

The pilot scheme aims to focus more closely on preventative care and establishing new ways to make both adults and children take their oral care more seriously.

It also explores the possibility of paying dentists based on the health results they produce and the number of patients they care for rather than the number of treatments they perform.

The practices taking part in the trial will also be implementing a new self-care plan based on a traffic light system giving patients a rating of green, amber or red after treatment. They will then be given personal advice on how to improve their dental health.