The Personal Dental Services Pilots are an example of how a practice can be affected by government schemes.
PDS piloting is centred around arrangements for local needs in each community which denotes that no two PDS pilot practices are likely to be identical.
With the dental industry changing so rapidly, government influence is a key factor for discussion by those in the profession.
Dr Shalin Mehra, practitioner and managing director of Rodericks Limited, will be speaking on the panel titled ‘The government knows best – discuss’ at the Future Dentist Conference at The Dentistry Show 2012.
At the show he will be discussing his practice’s participation in the pilot scheme and the questions that have arisen from government involvement in dentistry: ‘For my practice, the new pilot contract was a positive step. The dentists we have on the scheme are optimistic and the patients are receiving a higher standard of care.
‘At The Dentistry Show, I will be discussing how we as a practice got where we are today.
‘The debate will be heading in the direction of the future issue affecting dentistry, about how useful hindsight can be. The issue is about whether anyone, including the government, knows what is best in terms of patient care outcomes and prevention. We are trying to move in the right direction with regard to these issues but there are a lot of unanswered questions about the future of dentistry under government regulation.
‘The profession is going through a lot of change at the moment, with all the commissioning that started in 2006 and the new frameworks that are currently being developed within the NHS for dentistry. The key point to consider is how government action will affect the direction in which dentistry is currently travelling and what effect does it has on us as practitioners. It’s about decided whether or not we should understand them, be pro-active about them and analyse them.’
Dr Mehra will be speaking alongside Eddie Crouch and John Renshaw on 2 March and will provide delegates with the opportunity to discuss and debate modern issues.
He said: ‘It’s a chance for the audience to find out what it is they want to know about the future of dentistry and how it would and could effect them.’
The Dentistry Show is at the NEC, Birmingham 2-3 March.
For more information, visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk, call 020 7348 5269 or email [email protected].
