The challenge is clear: we must look for ways to meet need
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 4th September 2021
The unmet need for quality, specialist endodontic treatment has been an ever-present problem in dentistry, made worse by the pandemic. Yet there are several possible solutions which could benefit all patients, not just those needing root canal therapy.
In 2015, as part of a survey of primary care dentists in London, the findings concluded there was not only huge support for the concept of ensuring “additional funding and time” to facilitate routine endodontics, but also that recently qualified dentists were the most concerned about service access as well as the need for training.[i] It is still a rather strange time to be entering the profession, and to be finally treating “real” people, but new dentists also have the opportunity to be a force for change. In fact, the challenge of post-Covid dentistry may be one they are relishing – this is, quite simply, how to successfully help as many patients as possible. Whether it’s your first or 101st patient, the satisfaction that comes with restoring an individual’s oral-health related quality of life, is never not a thrill. This is what specialist endodontic training enables you to do, every day.
This isn’t just about the newly qualified, though. Being open to undertaking additional training and education, at any and every stage of your career, is essential for improving the statistics for dental health in the UK. This has never been truer, with so many opportunities for early diagnosis of disease having been lost. Specialist endodontic training is about more than just career development, and adding another string to your bow, it is about pushing back against all the factors that have made it so hard for patients to get the treatment they desperately require. To enable them to avoid an extraction, via an efficient procedure delivered with tools and instruments that have their comfort, safety and long-term health in mind – this is gold-standard treatment that not only meets their immediate needs but can be the gateway to better lifelong engagement. This is what we should be aiming for, ongoing partnerships with patients, who have less dental disease, because they have been instructed in how to reduce and manage their own unique combination of risk factors.
Another possible solution to unmet need is skill mix, which we may now see more of in practices, as they look to create a model of care that frees up more appointments and has enough flexibility to withstand future challenges. Skill mix can enable practices to optimise oral health as well as treat and prevent disease. In a skill-mixed clinic, the specialist has more time to deliver complex care, because other preventive-maintenance services are left in the highly capable hands of other GDPs in the team. As well as non-complex care, the GDPs will support adherence to, and the constant reiteration of, a programme of elevated hygiene to protect the stability of any treatment and keep the patient in good health. Supporters of skill mix have long argued how it is the best model for improved access and outcomes – certainly, practices need to find more time from somewhere and allow the higher proportion of patients with dental needs that aren’t complicated to stay that way.[ii] So, great for patients, and potentially great for dentistry too, as DCPs are both mobilised and inspired. More patient contact will enrich their work (patients are often the best teachers, after all) and perhaps even encourage them to diversify and learn a new discipline.
With more skill mix, the whole practice supports each course of treatment. Root canal therapy, including retreatments, requires a foundation of oral health before and after to endure. When a practice offers exceptional endodontics, the team will work as one to ensure the outcome is successful. They can also reassure anyone who is anxious about having a root canal that the specialist has the skills and experience necessary to facilitate a good outcome, using materials and instruments that will enable the experience to be comfortable and quick. COLTENE is the number-one choice for many endodontic specialists, as it makes materials and instruments that are high quality and good value. Its HyFlex™ EDM canal preparation files have been manufactured using a unique process that means they are flexible yet fracture resistant and suitable for everyday to complex cases, making workflow smooth and efficient, even if you’re new to endodontics.
Solutions for meeting endodontic need includes training and more skill mix, so specialists can treat more patients. Not pulling out all the stops isn’t an option, in all areas of dentistry. Access must be improved; patients must be encouraged to accept and adhere to maintenance plans and understand the value of prevention so that they know how to reduce their risk of disease and keep results stable. Becoming an endodontic specialist means less extractions and more healthier patients – and isn’t that the essence of exceptional dental care?
For more on COLTENE, visit www.coltene.com,
email info.uk@coltene.com or call 0800 254 5115.
Author: Mark Allen, General Manager at COLTENE
[i] Ghotane SG, Al-Haboubi M, Kendall N, Robertson C, Gallagher JE. Dentists with enhanced skills (Special Interest) in Endodontics: gatekeepers views in London. BMC Oral Health. 2015 Sep 21;15 (1): 110. doi: 10.1186/s12903-015-0085-8. PMID: 26391673; PMCID: PMC4578425.
[ii] Smith NJ. The education and training of personnel auxiliary to dentistry. A submission to the Nuffield Foundation. Br Dent J. 1993 Sep 25;175(6):193-5. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.4808269. PMID: 8398444.
