The Boundaries4Life team at Lords with mascot.

Boundaries for Life and sponsors, Simplyhealth Professionals, are celebrating their most successful season of health checks this summer, helped by the introduction of new diagnostic software.

Founded in 2010 by Dr Chet Trivedy, a dual-qualified dentist and doctor, Boundaries for Life offers free health checks at major cricket fixtures throughout the UK. Made possible through a team of volunteer health professionals, spectators and ground staff are checked for signs and risks of health issues, including mouth cancer, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, heart age, and obesity.

Commenting on this year’s success, which ran between April and September at high profile cricket venues including Lord’s, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl to name a few, Chet Trivedy said: “It’s been a fantastic year with the team conducting over 250 checks and raising awareness of good general health and oral health with a huge audience.

“It was a particularly exciting season, as this was the first year that we conducted heart age checks in addition to our regular checks. This provides users with an opportunity to know how old their heart is medically, compared to their actual age. Many people were shocked that their heart was a lot older than they thought it was. As we were using a software system to calculate the heart ages - provided by Health Diagnostics - every user had the opportunity to understand how they could reduce their heart age. This was not possible in previous years as the health checks were not automated.” 

As well as a detailed medical check from a health care professional, users also benefit from a mouth cancer check from a dentist – many of whom were volunteers from Simplyhealth Professionals’ network of member dentists. At the end of the checks, each user is given a five-page health report and access to an online interactive dashboard.

Henry Clover, Chief Dental Officer at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “Supporting Boundaries for Life is a great opportunity to champion a very important cause, as well as to highlight Simplyhealth’s approach to preventive wellbeing. We’re delighted and very grateful that many of our member dentists volunteered their valuable time to assist with mouth cancer checks.

“The health checks offer the chance to identify people who might be at risk of future health problems at an early stage, particularly those who might not be regularly visiting a dentist or GP. Importantly, the health checks help users to understand the links between general and oral health. It encourages them to reassess lifestyle choices such as alcohol consumption, smoking and diet, which could potentially contribute to issues such as mouth cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure.”

Not only does Boundaries for Life provide the means to help users to understand their current and future health, the initiative also has the additional benefit of collating valuable insights into the nation’s health. Data insights discovered that 34% of users were obese, 42% had a raised BMI, and 70% had a waist measurement that is considered to be medium or high risk for diabetes. Shockingly, almost half of users (48%) were at an increased risk of developing diabetes according to the Diabetes UK risk scoring system. Furthermore, one in four users had raised blood pressure, and 40% had raised cholesterol.

As a result of their health check, nearly 50 users were referred to see a GP, dentist or other health professional for further advice or treatment - potentially saving lives.

“We’re proud to have helped so many people, but these figures highlight that there is still a lot of work to do,” says Chet. “We’re keen to keep building on our success and provide an ever-broader range of checks at next season’s cricket fixtures. The checks are only possible due to our fantastic team of volunteers, including Simplyhealth Professionals member dentists. They have all promised to do more next year and that is the best endorsement we can get.”

For more information, visit http://boundariesforlife.co.uk/

About Simplyhealth

For 145 years we’ve been helping people to make the most of life through better everyday health.  In 2017 Simplyhealth and Denplan united under one Simplyhealth brand and today we’re proud to be the UK’s leading provider of health cash plans, Denplan dental payment plans and animal health plans.

We help over three million people in the UK access the health and care products, services and support that they need, when they need them and at a price they can afford.

• 1m health cash plan customers
• 1.5m patients with a Denplan payment plan
• 6,500 member dentists
• 1,900 member vets
• 1m animals covered
• 11,000 corporate clients

We’re proud to donate 10% of our pre-tax profits to health-related charitable activities every year, and this amounted to over £1 million in 2017. Our Simplyhealth Great Run Series partnership raised an additional £42.6 million for charity.

Simplyhealth is a trading name of Simplyhealth Access, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Dental

Simplyhealth Professionals is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million patients registered to a Denplan product.

Simplyhealth Professionals provides the following range of leading Denplan dental payment plans under the Denplan name:

• Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Membership: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Hygiene: A dental payment plan without dental insurance for all types of practice from NHS, mixed and private to support patients commit to a consistent hygiene programme.
• Denplan Emergency Insurance: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only

Simplyhealth Professionals also provide a wide range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme and Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme. Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 169 9962.

For patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   

www.simplyhealth.co.uk

www.simplyhealthprofessionals.co.uk

more sporting events in the future, dependent on their team and their funding.  

​

Links:

http://boundariesforlife.co.uk/

Twitter @Boundaries4Life https://twitter.com/boundaries4life

Twitter @SHP_Dentists https://twitter.com/shp_dentists

Lancashire Foundation http://foundation.lancashirecricket.co.uk

Healthy Stadia http://healthystadia.eu/  - Enabling sports clubs to influence health and behaviour.

news article http://healthystadia.eu/boundaries-for-life-fixtures-2018/

Blood biochemistry tests https://www.bhr.co.uk/  - small machines which run rapid tests of blood biochemistry.

What is HbA1c? https://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

GDPUK article https://www.gdpuk.com/blogs/entry/2133-knocking-mouth-cancer-for-six-simplyhealth-professionals-announce-boundaries-for-life-sponsorship

Dental practices are currently facing another major legislative change on 1st October when the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) comes into effect, which has caused much discussion in the industry and a range of different approaches. IDD is a change in government legislation around insurance products designed to give consumers greater choice and clarity when purchasing insurance products.

Caroline Coleman, Managing Director of Simplyhealth Professionals said: “As a trusted partner, it is our responsibility to provide our members with advice and support on new regulation, and clinical and business issues. Everything that we do as a customer-led organisation is in the best interests of our dentists and their patients. This is why we have taken the time to fully understand IDD and its implications.”

Simplyhealth Professionals has concluded that in order to comply with the new legislation and give patients the choice that the IDD demands, from 17th September for all new joiners, their supplementary insurance product - historically included as standard within Denplan payment plans – has now become optional.

Sandy Brown, Director of Dentists at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “We have done everything we can to follow the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations to make sure that we comply with the new IDD regulations. Giving patients the choice of whether they feel the supplementary insurance is the right product for them is the essence of IDD. It’s really important for those patients that opt in to be reassured in the knowledge that their claims will definitely be paid out according to the terms and conditions. We are working with our member dentists to make sure that they understand the new regulation, how it affects them and their patients, and has minimum disruption to day to day business.”

Simplyhealth Professionals offers patients dental emergency and injury cover that has the protection of a regulated product, with guaranteed pay-outs for valid claims and access to an independent appeals process.

Sandy Brown said: “Opting for insurance seems to me a very minimal monthly amount for absolute peace of mind. The main benefit of insurance is that patients have the legal protection to ensure that payments they are entitled to are paid out.”

About Simplyhealth Professionals:

Simplyhealth Professionals is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million patients registered to a Denplan product.

Simplyhealth Professionals also provide a wide range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme and Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 169 9962.

For patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   

For details of all of our products, visit www.simplyhealthprofessionals.co.uk

About Simplyhealth:

For 145 years we’ve been helping people to make the most of life through better everyday health.  In 2017 Simplyhealth and Denplan united under one Simplyhealth brand and today we’re proud to be the UK’s leading provider of health cash plans, Denplan dental payment plans and pet health plans.

We help over three million people in the UK access the health and care products, services and support that they need, when they need them and at a price they can afford.

1m health cash plan customers

1.5m patients with a Denplan payment plan

6,500 member dentists

1,900 member vets

1 million animals covered

11,000 corporate clients

We’re proud to donate 10% of our pre-tax profits to health-related charitable activities every year, and this amounted to over £1 million in 2017. Our Simplyhealth Great Run Series partnership raised an additional £42.6 million for charity.

Simplyhealth is a trading name of Simplyhealth Access, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

www.simplyhealth.co.uk       

Simplyhealth Professionals is offering free access to YDEPPA

Simplyhealth Professionals has launched a new online marketing portal called ‘Simply Select’ to help its’ members produce bespoke marketing literature for their practices. 

The Simply Select portal contains a wide variety of templates, such as factsheets, posters and referral cards that can be personalised by members to help them promote individual Denplan payment plans and special offers. This will help to draw in new patients to the practice, or encourage existing patients to consider new or alternative treatments or plans. Marketing campaign material will also be added to the portal on a regular basis.

The templates are very simple to use with areas that practices can personalise with specific information that is relevant for them. There are templates for posters, referral cards, cost comparison posters and social media templates. Simplyhealth Professionals will continue to create new templates and add to the existing range throughout the year.

Sandy Brown, Director of Dentists at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “We wanted to offer a really easy process for our member dentists to help them to market their individual Denplan payment plans and personalise each product to attract new patients and retain and grow existing ones. We have a dedicated in-house practice marketing team available for more complicated requests or special events, but often practices just want to be able to quickly print off a simple form or poster and do this themselves. Simply Select now means they have the best of both worlds.”

Simplyhealth Professionals also provide a wide range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme and Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 169 9962.

For patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   

For details of all of our products, visit www.denplan.co.uk

Simplyhealth Professionals’ training team, the Academy, are celebrating after being awarded the prestigious BDIA Code of Practice for all of their dental CPD training.

The Academy has also worked hard to meet the new requirements of the General Dental Council’s (GDC) CPD quality assurance. With the new changes to Enhanced CPD starting in January 2018 for dentists and August for dental care professionals, this will further reassure members of Simplyhealth Professionals, the providers of Denplan payment plans, that they are receiving the highest level of training support.

The GDC has introduced changes to CPD in 2018 now called Enhanced Continuing Professional Development (ECPD) and have stated that all providers of dental CPD need to have clear aims, objectives and anticipated outcomes that fit with their four development outcomes.  CPD providers also have to offer quality assurance that their courses are fit for purpose.  

Louis Mackenzie, Head of Clinical Training at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “We have always employed the highest levels of quality assurance to ensure all of our courses satisfy the educational needs of dentists and their teams. The BDIA Code of Practice process has been an excellent opportunity to formalise our rules and reassure all our members that the entire range of Simplyhealth Professionals CPD activities will satisfy all of their statutory obligations for verifiable CPD.”

All courses run by Simplyhealth Professionals have quality controls in place, help members choose CPD products that match their individual requirements and fields of practice, and provide certificates that show that the registrant has met their aims and objectives. Members have nearly 60 modules that they can choose from.

Simplyhealth Professionals’ training team provide customised training days for member practice staff to help them stay up to date with industry knowledge, regulatory compliance, and techniques for dealing with all of their patients’ needs. The team are all qualified trainers who come from a range of backgrounds, from finance, health and social care, education, and dental care.

Jo Banks, Head of The Academy, said: “The Academy has always strived to provide the highest quality training for dentists in many subject areas. The BDIA Code of Practice and the meeting of the new ECPD standards for all our training can reassure dentists that in choosing Simplyhealth Professionals to deliver their training they are meeting all current requirements. We provide an outline of the aims, objectives and anticipated outcomes of all our courses with links to how they fit with the GDC’s four development outcomes. Our CPD certificates have been adapted to meet GDC requirements and will now display the relevant GDC Development Outcomes A, B, C and/or D.”

To find out more information about the range of CPD courses available from Simplyhealth Professionals visit http://www.denplan.co.uk/dentists/events-and-training/mycpd

Simplyhealth Professionals is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million patients registered to a Denplan product.

Simplyhealth Professionals provides the following range of leading Denplan dental payment plans under the Denplan name:

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Membership: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Hygiene: A dental payment plan without dental insurance for all types of practice from NHS, mixed and private to support patients commit to a consistent hygiene programme.

·         Denplan Emergency Insurance: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only

Simplyhealth Professionals also provide a wide range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme and Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 169 9962.

For patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   

For details of all of our products, visit www.denplan.co.uk

Friday 3 November 2017

National Motorcycle Museum

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners, in partnership with Simplyhealth Professionals, will host a conference, on Friday 3^rd November, bringing together six of the UK’s leading oral health experts.

Designed for clinicians, the conference will provide an overview of the latest research that provides the foundation for the contemporary management of common dental diseases, insight into complex inter-relationships between oral diseases and general health of patients of all ages, and reveal evidence that demonstrates the long-term impact of traditional treatments on oral and general health.

The programme will provide dental professionals in general practice and other clinical settings with the knowledge to help them deliver extended oral health care. The lectures will also describe the skill-sets that will help delegates select biologically respectful, minimally invasive techniques and future-proof their practices by integrating general health care with everyday clinical dentistry.

Professor Nairn Wilson, one of the UK’s most International respected academics, and former Dean of Kings College London Dental Institute, will open the conference and introduce each of the presenters.

• Professor Mike Curtis, Dean of Dentistry at Queen Mary’s University of London - How strong is the link between oral and other diseases – hype or reality?
• Avi Banerjee, Professor of cariology and operative dentistry at Kings college London - Dental caries and the human body: the "MI"ssing link?
• Professor Trevor Burke, The University of Birmingham School of Dentistry - The ultimate guide to restoration longevity
• Iain Chapple, Head of School at the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry - Time to put the mouth back in the body: the truth about periodontal-systemic links
• Dr. Stephen Fayle, Consultant in Paediatric dentistry at University of Leeds School of Dentistry - Extended oral health care for all ages.

Finally, Chief dental officer Dr Sara Hurley will discuss the conference themes and join the lecture team in answering delegate questions on the exciting future for oral care and holistic dentistry in the UK.

The conference will be held from 9am-5.30pm at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull, West Midlands, B92 0EJ. Tickets are £205 for members and £290 for non-members.

To purchase your ticket, go to www.holisticdentistry.eventbrite.com

Annual Oral Health Survey shows up to three million could be putting their dental health in danger as fear of the dentist and money worries lead to dental avoidance.

Britain could be reclaiming its reputation as the nation of bad teeth as a new survey from dental payment plan specialists Denplan by Simplyhealth Professionals reveals over one in 20 admit to never visiting the dentist. Even more shockingly, 1% even admit they NEVER brush their teeth, which could represent over 500,000* of us!

For those who avoided the dental chair and visit the dentist less often than once every two years, 39% said they were too scared of the dentist or pain, and the same number claimed they couldn’t afford check-ups.

In a worrying socio-economic trend, over half of UK adults (52%) said they’d cancel a routine dental appointment if they had financial worries, despite check-ups costing as little as £20. Young people aged 18-24 were the age group most likely to cancel.

14% of those that don’t regularly visit the dentist said they couldn’t access an NHS dentist, while one in five were worried they’d uncover further issues that needed treatment. In contrast, 91% of those with a dental payment plan went to the dentist every six months. 

Despite rumours from across the pond that Britain’s teeth are some of the worst in the world, according to University College London and Harvard University, Britons dental health is no worse than our American counterparts, in fact, the average person in Britain is missing 6.97 teeth, while in America the average is 7.31[2].

But these emerging bad habits could spell bad news for future generations, with almost one in 20 (4%) parents of children aged 18 or under saying their child never brushed their teeth and 7% admitting they never took their child to the dentist. [3]

Shockingly, 43% of parents of children with a filling said their child had their first one aged seven younger. Almost a quarter of parents of children aged 18 or under whose child had a filling (23%) said  they had been given their first filling at five years or younger. 

The findings from Denplan by Simplyhealth Professionals correspond with a report by the Royal College of Surgeons which showed record numbers of under-fives having rotten teeth removed. Findings also revealed that hospital extractions among pre-school children have soared by 24 per cent in just ten years[4].

Even babies are affected — last year alone, 47 children under the age of one had newly grown milk teeth taken out.

Commenting on the figures, Henry Clover, Director of Dental Policy, Simplyhealth Professionals said “It’s clear from these findings that more work needs to be done to properly educate the British public on the importance of good dental health. Seeing your dentist regularly means that any potential dental problems can be spotted early on, reducing the need for invasive or expensive treatment. If you are worried about the cost of dental care, it is always worth talking to your practice to find out if they have options available, such as a dental payment plan or subscription plan, which can help you budget or spread the cost throughout the year.”

For more information on the survey results or Denplan by Simplyhealth Professionals please contact Hannah Mepham This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Beth Heard This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01273 712 000

The survey data

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 5,068 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24th January - 2nd February 2017.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

For the children’s oral health section:

Parents of children aged 18 years old and under took part in this survey; and if there was more than one child in the family, we asked parents to answer based on the child whose birthday fell next.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4353 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken from 25th January to 2nd February 2017. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

About Simplyhealth

In the world of healthcare, more than anywhere, experience counts. Since 1872 – long before the existence of the NHS – Simplyhealth has been helping people to make the most of life, by managing their everyday health needs.  That’s why today we ensure over 3 million people in the UK have access to the health products, services and support that they need, when they need them and at a price they can afford.

We’re the kind of people who live by our purpose: we’re here to help people make the most of life through better everyday health. We’re proud to be the leading provider of everyday health cash plans, dental payment and pet health plans. And whilst we may be 144 years old, we’re not afraid to innovate. Whereas once we were known purely for cash plans, we now offer a wide range of products and services with one thing in common: an unflinching desire to cater for peoples’ everyday health needs – now and into the future.

We exist to help people make the most of life through better everyday health. That’s our purpose. We use charitable partnerships to also deliver that purpose, going beyond our products and services, but very much aligned to our business strategy. As a result of our success, in 2016 we were able to donate £1.7m to our charitable causes, supporting 23 different charities including Revitalise, Music in Hospitals, Brainwave Centre and Auditory Verbal, touching the lives of thousands of people across the UK.

Our future success and performance will enable us to deliver our ongoing pledge to donate 10% of our profits to charity every year, supporting health-related charities that share a similar outlook to us and a dedication to helping people with everyday health challenges make the most of life.

Simplyhealth is a trading name of Simplyhealth Access, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

For further information:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

http://newsroom.simplyhealth.co.uk/

@SimplyhealthUK

Facebook.com/SimplyhealthUK

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Simplyhealth has successfully signed another 50/50 Dental Practice Partnership with, Fox Dental Care based in St Austell, Cornwall.

With around 1,500 dental patients, many of whom are already covered by Simplyhealth’s Denplan dental plans, the partnership will support Fox Dental Care to further develop, grow and continue to serve its local community.

As part of an ongoing commitment to investment and innovation in the dental market, Simplyhealth’s partnership scheme offers dental practices the opportunity to enter into an equal partnership, ensuring that both partners have equal rights in the practices.

The partnership model has been designed to enable dentists to retain day to day clinical management with Simplyhealth providing support and expertise in business services, development and patient insights gained from their existing successful Denplan services as well as through helping over 3 million people with their everyday health needs across the group.

The model works well for Practice owners looking for a smooth transition into retirement while wanting to retain responsibility for the day to day decisions and clinical delivery.  They can retain the legacy they have built in the community but are able to realise the value of the practice and make the move into ownership less of a barrier for the new partner.

Romana Abdin, Chief Executive of Simplyhealth added: “This is a true partnership that is for the benefit of Fox’s Dental Care, patients and Simplyhealth. We’re looking forward to working together as Simon approaches his retirement, growing the business and serving more patients. We want to work in partnership with more Healthcare Professionals so we can seize opportunities and overcome challenges together, while supporting more patients to make the most of life through better everyday health.”

Simon Fox, owner of Fox Dental Care, explains: “Selling a dental practice is an incredibly stressful and complex process, one that I was not looking forward to. However, the help and experience of the Simplyhealth team made the whole thing straightforward.  From first meetings right through to contract signing, I have felt relaxed and supported, which is the same as I have done during the last 25 plus years of working with them. In particular having our dedicated Simplyhealth Business Development Executive, Harriet, always at the end of the phone, has really proved invaluable. Selling the business you've lovingly built up over 35 years to someone you trust and already have a great relationship with has certainly made things easier. I look forward to the coming years in partnership and to my eventual retirement.”

For further information about Simplyhealth please visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk.

http://newsroom.simplyhealth.co.uk/

@SimplyhealthUK

Facebook.com/SimplyhealthUK

Simplyhealth is delighted to announce today that it is investing £137k into Teeth Team, a nationally-recognised, award-winning child oral health improvement programme.

Teeth Team, which was set up in 2010 in Hull, works to improve the oral health of children in socially deprived communities. The investment from Simplyhealth will enable Teeth Team to continue its work and roll out its programme to an additional 50 schools in 2017. In addition, Simplyhealth Professionals and its member dentists will be proactively involved in delivering the programme as it expands.

With charitable giving at the heart of the healthcare organisation, Simplyhealth is passionate about supporting charities and organisations that are focused on making a difference to the everyday health of people.

In the last two years, Teeth Team has recorded a reduction of 19.8% in local children experiencing dental extractions under general anaesthetic. The oral health survey for five-year-old children 2014-15 in Hull, carried out by Public Health England Survey (DPH), recorded an improvement from 43.4% to 37.8%.

Chris Groombridge, Chair of Trustees for Teeth Team, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this momentous support and investment from Simplyhealth to our charity. To be working in partnership on this level means that moving forward we can expand the programme into scores of new schools in other areas of need and continue to make a real different in child oral health.

“What is important about this partnership is that it’s not just financial – it is a commitment to the charity on other levels and grows our network of support as we push to take this essential programme national.”

Last month Teeth Team won the Outstanding Innovation Award 2017 from the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). The programme was described as “excellent” and a “clear winner” by the BSPD Executive judges and as the prize the charity will present to the Annual Conference and Scientific meeting to be held in Manchester in September.

Henry Clover, Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth Professionals, said: “We are incredibly excited about being involved with Teeth Team. Simplyhealth Professionals is ideally placed to provide practical, proactive support through our member dentists, some of whom will have the opportunity to visit these schools and help children understand the importance of preventive oral health care through the Teeth Team programme.”

Simplyhealth has pledged to donate 10% of pre-tax profits to health-related charitable causes in 2017. Roger Cotton, Head of Charitable Giving at Simplyhealth, said: “This programme presents a great opportunity to provide hard evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of the ‘prevention’ approach to better oral health amongst the five- to nine-year-old age group. In the longer-term, we also hope that the accumulating evidence as the project expands can be used to lobby government and encourage it to divert a percentage of the savings realised by Teeth Team for the NHS to help fund further expansion of the project to other areas and schools.”

For more information about Teeth Team, please contact:

Emma Ideson, Teeth Team Press Officer

T: 07976 512340 E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. W: www.teethteam.org.uk

Teeth Team, 543-549 Anlaby Road, Hull, HU3 6HP

Carestream Dental strives to make your everyday life easier with each solution that it brings to the market.

Its latest offering is specifically for Denplan practices, who now benefit from a new integration between the CS R4+ practice management software and the Denplan / PreViser Patient Assessment (DEPPA) tool.

Without requiring a separate log in, you can view previous assessments or start new DEPPA examinations all from the clinical screens in R4+. For the latter, either the appropriate records will be automatically updated or new patient files will be created.

Patients can complete DEPPA questions on an easy-to-use Wacom tablet and receive a print out or an email copy of their examination (which is automatically recorded in the patient’s communication tab).

This new integration is in addition to the previous benefits available to Denplan practices, such as automatic updates on Denplan patients, real-time review of fees paid and information on patients who have moved away but not updated their address at the practice or with Denplan.

To find out more about to fully utilise your CSR4+ software for Denplan patients, contact the friendly team at Carestream Dental today!

For more information please contact Carestream Dental on

0800 169 9692 or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk

For all the latest news and updates, follow us on Twitter @CarestreamDentl and Facebook

Denplan has announced today that it has completed its first two 50/50 dental partnerships with dental practices in South Yorkshire. Plans to set up a pilot scheme to enter into equal partnership with individual member practices were revealed last year by Denplan and Simplyhealth. 

The new partnership model ensures that both partners have equal rights in practices and enables dentists to retain day-to-day clinical management of the practice. The business model has been created to reduce the barriers to an associate taking over a practice and supports the eventual transition to a new owner, who will then acquire the retiring dentist’s 50% share of the practice.

The first two new partnership practices are: The Dental Practice, based in Dronfield Woodhouse, in Sheffield; and Mapplewell Dental Centre in Barnsley. The Dental Practice is a family run private practice, owned by Dr Colin Doody, and has been in business for over 36 years. Mapplewell Dental Centre is owned by Dr Mark and Dr Elizabeth Bishop who have been in business for over 21 years.

The Partnership Programme offers peace of mind to dentists as it sets out the basis on which the remaining 50% of the practice will be valued, providing certainty to the dentists who participate at a time when they might have concerns over retirement and what might happen to their practice. It also helps dentists to enjoy their hard earned success by immediately freeing up some of the finances that would otherwise be reserved to fulfill the obligations of running a successful practice – and continuing to allow them to take responsibility for the day to day management of the practice, clinical activity and patient care.

The Partnership Programme resulted from a strategic review from Simplyhealth, of which Denplan is a part, who are focusing on further investment and innovation in the dental market.

Steve Gates, Managing Director of Denplan, commented: “We are delighted that we have completed our first two dental partnership agreements with The Dental Practice and Mapplewell Dental Centre.  Succession planning for retirement is an increasing priority for many dentists and one which we believe Denplan and the Simplyhealth team can play a positive and active role in. We are well positioned to partner with member dentists due to our existing strong relationships with them and our expertise in the dental marketplace.  

Romana Abdin, Chief Executive of Simplyhealth added: “This is a really exciting development that has attracted a great deal of interest from dentists looking to secure the right future for themselves, the practice and their patients. Our sole focus is everyday health and this demonstrates an ongoing commitment to dentists and the market as a whole.”

Dr Colin Doody, owner of The Dental Practice, said: “I was thinking of my exit strategy as I am getting to ‘that age’, and I wanted to ensure that I was leaving my practice in good hands for my son, who is our associate dentist, and also my wonderful long standing staff and patients – many of whom have been coming to see me for the last three and half decades! This Partnership Programme offered me the ideal solution.”

Dr Mark Bishop, owner of Mapplewell Dental Practice, commented: “We decided to partner with Denplan to ensure that there would be a legacy of high quality dentistry after we retire. Denplan are a respected and trusted brand who have always had the same ethos of customer care as we have.  As we really care about our practice team, this model allows a smooth transition and ensures they will be well looked after in the future.”

The new businesses have been set up as ring-fenced partnerships. These will operate separately from Denplan, bringing in additional expertise from across Simplyhealth, with their own governance to ensure that there is no potential for any conflicts of interest to arise.

About Denplan 

Denplan Limited is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist owned by Simplyhealth; with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million Denplan registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years. Today, Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to spread the cost of their private dental care through a fixed monthly fee. Denplan supports regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223. www.denplan.co.uk

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only 

·         Corporate Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes 

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

For more information about Denplan: 

Kate Maybank

Denplan Press Office 

Tel: 01962 829 179

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Denplan is celebrating another successful award win after their NHS if campaign was named ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ at today’s FMC Dental Industry Awards 2016. (Denplan Marketing Team Pictured above.)

Denplan has been running the if (“In Front”) marketing campaign since March 2016. The aim of the campaign has been to inform and engage dentists about NHS dental contract reform and help them consider how any future changes to the present NHS contract could impact their practice going forward, both in terms of patient care and profitability

The NHS campaign was featured across the dental trade press in 2016, as well as featuring prominently on GDPUK.com. 

The award ceremony took place at lunchtime on Friday 18 November at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington and was a well-dressed event attended by many of the dental industry’s leading names.

The judging panel was led by renowned dentist Dr David Houston and over 20 of the dental industry’s most experienced professionals. 

The Dental Industry Awards were created in 2015 to acknowledge excellence in the UK dental industry and to reward progress, effort and enterprise across a number of different categories from marketing and PR, social media, events, teams and customer service.

The ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ award category was created for the company or brand who were judged to have used the most effective mix of marketing in its promotional work over the last year. Denplan were up against stiff competition in their award category from Implantium, Leca Dental Laboratory, Oasis and Stockdale Martin.

Jolian Howell, Head of Marketing at Denplan, said: “I am delighted that the Denplan marketing team has won this award and received the recognition that they deserve. Our ‘if’ campaign has demonstrated the thought leadership centred around NHS contract issues within the dental industry. We have used a wide mix of activity from trade press advertising, online banners, PR and social media, to seminars and research, and plan to continue developing the campaign throughout 2017.”

For more information on the if campaign, visit www.denplan.co.uk/if-nhs

Notes to Editors: 

About Denplan 

Denplan Limited is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist owned by Simplyhealth; with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million Denplan registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years. Today, Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to spread the cost of their private dental care through a fixed monthly fee. Denplan supports regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223. www.denplan.co.uk

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Hygiene Plan: A dental payment plan without dental insurance for all types of practice from NHS, mixed and private to support patients commit to a consistent hygiene programme.

·         Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only 

·         Corporate Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes 

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Denplan, the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist, is celebrating another successful award win, after winning ‘Best Dental Benefits Provider’ for the seventh consecutive year at the 2016 Health Insurance Awards.

Held on Thursday 13 October at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, the Health Insurance Awards gathered together around 900 industry leaders in the health insurance and protection industry to recognise the achievements of exceptional individuals, providers, and intermediaries across a range of categories.

At the glamorous black tie event, guests celebrated the best achievements in the industry and were treated to a champagne reception and three course meal. They were entertained throughout the evening by popular prime-time TV presenter Stephen Mulhearn.

Pam Whelan, Head of Corporate at Denplan, is in centre right with a pink flower dress on holding the prestigious award

Head of Corporate at Denplan, Pam Whelan, said: “We’re over the moon and extremely proud to win the award for Best Dental Benefits Provider for the 7th year in a row. The fact that these awards are won thanks to the votes from intermediaries means a great deal to us, and we would like to thank everyone that voted again for us this year.  It’s important that we don’t get complacent so we are always looking for fresh inspiration in order to continually develop new and innovative ways to enhance our services for the employee benefit market. We are also keen to continue our success in the future and achieve an eighth award so will continue to work hard to support our much valued intermediaries and clients throughout the year.”

For more information about Denplan’s range of corporate plans, please call 01962 828 008 or go to www.denplan.co.uk/companies

On Monday 22 August, Denplan welcomed Chief Dental Officer for England, Sara Hurley, and Andrew Taylor, her Dental Programme Manager, to the company’s head office in Winchester. The aim of the meeting was to explore areas of mutual interest between the private and public sectors. There was acknowledgment that engagement between the two sectors centres on common patient-centred goals – not least that of offering more patient choice, and improving the long term oral health of patients in the UK.

Henry Clover, Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer said: “We were delighted to welcome Sara and Andrew to our offices, where we were able to explain Denplan’s business model and the range of support services we offer to 6,500 member dentists nationwide. We see this as the start of a conversation on potential areas of collaboration and information sharing.”

One area of discussion was the Denplan Excel certification programme, developed over 15 years ago for dentists to help support clinical governance, professional regulation and excellence in patient care and communication. The Denplan Excel programme was also UKAS accredited in January this year. Denplan explained that they would be open to future discussions with the GDC regarding continuing assurance plans, and with the CQC, to discuss the potential value of clinical service accreditation and peer review schemes. These could be useful information sources to support their inspection programmes and to help continue driving up standards in dentistry.

Henry also shared some data recently published in the British Dental Journal which demonstrated that worsening oral health correlates with worsening general health. This was derived from over 37,000 patients who had received a Denplan PreViser Patient Assessment (DEPPA)¹. The research provided further evidence for the association between high-risk lifestyle factors such as smoking and heavy drinking and poor oral health outcomes in an area of common interest in all sectors of primary care.

There were also discussions around the array of tailor–made practice training sessions that Denplan runs for practices and their dental teams – over 450 sessions per year.  Denplan Academy training covers areas such as complaint handling, legal and ethical issues and GDC standards, preparing for CQC inspections, and caring for patients with dementia to name a few.

Henry said: “It was generally agreed that any initiatives and training that improves practice efficiency and in turn improves oral health outcomes, would serve the profession well to be explored on a wider scale.”

Sara also outlined the case for a national programme to improve dental health through better co-ordinated care and empowering communities to implement their own sustainable oral health initiatives.  She will be launching the concept of “Smile 4 Life” at the Health and Care Innovation Expo next month; national support for existing community based projects, a hub for sharing best practices across Local Government Authority areas and ensuring that local oral health initiatives are complemented by innovative commissioning approaches within local NHS England Commissioning Teams and supported by the profession. 

The initial focus is “Early Years/under 5’s” with the aim to provide opportunities for families and  children to establish good oral health habits as a daily norm, be it nursery school or at home.  With encouragement and ease of access to dental care professionals, first check-up by age 1 and opportunity to continue to visit the dental team regularly for age–appropriate preventive advice, together with help to ensure problems are identified early, the prospect of a generation of children free from decay becomes increasingly real. 

Keen to expand the concept of Smile 4 Life beyond childhood, Sara also touched on an ambition for a wide-ranging programme for oral health reform – with a focus on improvements for the oral health of the over 65’s, the 16-24 age group, the homeless, the ageing well (typically aged 35-55) and those aged 85 plus – a population expected to double between 2010 and 2030. She also expressed her determination that the dental profession work together to lead and achieve the required changes.

Henry commented: “Denplan will continue to support such prevention strategies that recognise that good dental health in childhood is vital, not only for lifelong oral wellbeing, but for good overall long term general health. This is ever more so important now, given the lack of an oral health focus in the government’s recently published obesity strategy.” 

^[1] http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v221/n2/full/sj.bdj.2016.525.html British Dental Journal 221, 65 - 69 (2016) Published online: 22 July 2016 | doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.525

About Henry Clover

Henry Clover joined the Professional Services team of Denplan in 1998, having worked as a dentist for 17 years looking after patients’ oral health in his own practice. He now holds the position of Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth and is also Chief Dental Officer at Denplan. Henry playing a vital role in Simplyhealth’s Leadership Team and is at the forefront of private dentistry liaising with more than 6,500 member dentists.

About Denplan

Denplan is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist, with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years and today the company is owned by Simplyhealth. Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to budget for their private dental care by spreading the cost through a fixed monthly fee. We support regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life.

For further information visit www.denplan.co.uk. For oral health tips and advice visit www.myteeth.co.uk. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223 
 

• Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only
• Company Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes 
   

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training, plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Following the unveiling of the Government’s long-anticipated Childhood Obesity Strategy, the UK’s leading dental payment plan provider, Denplan, has criticised the plan for overlooking oral health.

“The strategy shows small steps in the right direction but has ultimately been widely slammed by campaigners as being ‘weak’ and ‘watered down’,” says Henry Clover, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan. “Not only does the strategy omit the desired restriction on junk food advertising and multibuy promotions, it was also hugely disappointing to see that childhood tooth decay was only referenced once in the entire report. Although the strategy focuses on obesity, the knock-on effects of implementing tougher sugar restrictions on manufacturers and retailers could only have been positive for our children’s dental health too.”

The strategy fails in the eyes of many health experts, campaigners, and MPs to fully tackle the issue of unhealthy eating habits and does not impose tough enough restrictions on manufacturers and retailers.

Central to the Strategy is the Government’s ‘challenge’ to manufacturers and retailers to voluntarily reduce the sugar content of produce popular with children by 20 percent by 2020, with a five percent reduction in the first year. George Osborne’s already-announced sugar tax on soft drinks was also referenced in the plan, but the expected restrictions on junk food advertising during peak family TV shows and bans on supermarket cut-price promotions on unhealthy foods were ignored.

“It’s fair to say that the long-anticipated Childhood Obesity Strategy was expected to be a lot more robust,” says Henry. “Asking manufacturers and retailers to reduce sugar content on a voluntary basis may not achieve what is needed to both reduce childhood obesity and tooth decay. Far too many children experience tooth decay, and it remains the single most common reason for five to nine year olds in England to be admitted to hospital, with many of those children needing multiple tooth extractions under general anaesthetic.” [1]

About Denplan

Denplan is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist, with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years and today the company is owned by Simplyhealth. Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to budget for their private dental care by spreading the cost through a fixed monthly fee. We support regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life.

For further information visit www.denplan.co.uk. For oral health tips and advice visit www.myteeth.co.uk. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223

• Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only
• Company Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training, plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

For more information about Denplan:

Sara Elliott

Denplan Press Office

Tel: 01962 828 194

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Following the recent announcement that the US government is withdrawing its recommendation to floss from its dietary guidelines, based on the lack of definitive scientific studies to prove its effectiveness on gum disease and tooth decay, Denplan has shared its response.

“When talking about evidence and studies, it’s important to distinguish between the terms ‘flossing’ and ‘cleaning between teeth’,” says Henry Clover, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan. “Floss, whether it’s tape or string, is only one of the methods to clean between teeth and some studies have shown that traditional floss is not always effective for some people. This is partly due to patients not always being able to use the floss correctly and the fact that a thin piece of floss might only remove a proportion of plaque and food particles between teeth. There is, however, strong evidence* to show that other methods of cleaning between teeth, such as interdental brushes, are highly effective in removing plaque and helping to prevent or treat gum disease.

“Tooth brushing only reaches around 70 percent of tooth surfaces, so if you’re not regularly removing plaque from in between your teeth, there will be bacteria building up and potentially causing problems. This includes an increased risk of gum disease, tooth decay and bad breath.

“It’s vitally important that patients don’t misinterpret the US government’s recent withdrawal of the recommendation to floss as a message that they only need to brush their teeth, and never clean in between them. We would strongly urge patients to follow an evidence-based approach continue to clean between their teeth, as advised by their dental team, using whatever method work best for them, be it floss, interdental brushes or waterpiks.”

*Sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19820738

                 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19138177

About Henry Clover

Henry Clover joined the Professional Services team of Denplan in 1998, having worked as a dentist for 17 years looking after patients’ oral health in his own practice. He now holds the position of Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth and is also Chief Dental Officer at Denplan. Henry playing a vital role in Simplyhealth’s Leadership Team and is at the forefront of private dentistry liaising with more than 6,500 member dentists.

About Denplan

Denplan is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist, with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years and today the company is owned by Simplyhealth. Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to budget for their private dental care by spreading the cost through a fixed monthly fee. We support regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life.

For further information visit www.denplan.co.uk. For oral health tips and advice visit www.myteeth.co.uk. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223

• Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only
• Company Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training, plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

For more information about Denplan:

Sara Elliott

Denplan Press Office

Tel: 01962 828 194

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Denplan encourages families to Brush-Up this summer

For a second year, Denplan is running ‘The Big Summer Brush-Up’ to encourage families to make the most of the summer holidays to visit the dentist and spend time practising brushing techniques with their children. The national PR campaign is running for two months throughout July and August and Denplan is encouraging member practices to take part. This year, the PR campaign also features the inspiring Katie Piper, who will act as the campaign’s celebrity Mum ambassador.

A survey of parents of children aged 1-11 from Denplan, has revealed that almost a third (30%) of parents think that it is acceptable for a child to have experienced tooth decay before they have reached their teenage years[1].

According to the survey many parents try a multitude of methods to help their children manage their oral health effectively. However, 30% of parents surveyed stated that they think it is acceptable for a child to develop tooth decay due to the difficulty in controlling how effectively they clean their teeth on a daily basis.

Difficulties regulating children’s sugar consumption was also cited as a reason why many parents now accept tooth decay. Over a quarter (26%) of parents surveyed admit this with a further 29% of parents surveyed believing that potentially painful oral health conditions, such as tooth decay, are pre-determined by a family history of oral health complaints and weak teeth.

Worryingly, more than 1 in 10 parents (14%) claim that they think that decay in children’s teeth is acceptable as all children will inevitably lose their milk teeth as they develop.

These statistics come as the government announced plans to introduce a sugar tax on the soft drinks industry, due to come into effect by 2018. Denplan’s research suggests that the tax could be warmly welcomed by parents with almost half (45%) of parents surveyed claiming that they believe that tooth decay can be prevented by limiting the amount of sugar in a child's diet. A further 40% of parents believe that tooth decay can be prevented by ensuring that children regularly see their dentist for a check-up. Despite this, when asked what actions they take to prevent their child developing decay just 1 in 5 (18%) of parents said that they take their child to see the dentist once a year as soon as their first tooth appears.

Henry Clover, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan comments: “As the poor state of children’s oral health continues to dominate the headlines, and dental caries continues to be one of the most common chronic (but also largely preventable) diseases in UK children, Denplan will continue to champion improvements in children’s oral health. 

“Whilst parents have the best of intentions with their children’s dental health, the research shows that it can be hard for parents to keep up good habits amongst a backdrop of hidden sugars in our food and drinks and children’s reluctance to follow a good oral health routine. Denplan’s Big Summer Brush-Up campaign, along with the accompanying materials Denplan has produced has been created to help practices support and guide families on their oral healthcare.  Providing the right advice and encouragement from an early age or even from when a child’s first tooth appears, could make a lifetime of difference when it comes to their oral health.”

Denplan’s ‘Little Book of Healthy Smiles’ has been produced, containing handy advice from dentists and tips on how to enthuse unwilling children to brush up on cleaning teeth, written for parents by parents. For further information and downloadable content such as a brushing chart and the Little Book of Healthy Smiles visit www.bigsummerbrushup.co.uk.

The current state of children’s oral health in the UK has once again been making the headlines this week.  Whilst Denplan welcomes the news from Public Health England that the number of five year olds with tooth decay has dropped to its lowest level in almost a decade, there is still much greater effort needed to install better prevention strategies in order to eradicate this entirely preventable dental disease in the child population.

Commenting on the PHE survey results, Henry Clover, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan said: “Although the figures show that the number of five year olds with tooth decay has dropped from 31% in 2008 down to less than 25%, this still represents a quarter of the country’s five years olds suffering from an entirely preventable disease. Focusing on comparing data to previous years is not that helpful and the government, working with the profession, must not shy away from seeking to tackle this problem head on. 

“The current NHS contract makes it more difficult for dentists to care for children with the worst dental health, a key factor in the need to reform the system introduced in 2006. Any new contract, must put prevention strategies at the forefront and recognise that good dental health in childhood is vital, not only for lifelong oral wellbeing, but for good overall health.

“Denplan believes that a dental health assessment should happen by the age of one to prevent early onset of disease. Denplan’s research conducted with YouGov revealed that only one in five parents of children aged 18 or under (19%) said they first took their child to the dentist before 12 months of age¹.”

The PHE statistics also revealed that in some areas, such as the North West, a third of five year olds (33.4%) are suffering from tooth decay, compared to only a fifth (20.1%) in the South East.

“This inequality in children’s oral health demonstrates there is still a huge regional variation, with areas of higher levels of deprivation tending to have higher levels of tooth decay.  Investment must continue to be targeted to areas where access to dental services is low to improve provision and inequalities. The development of more multi-skilled dental teams could also help provide more effective and economical outcomes in helping treat children with more extensive oral health needs. Therapists, hygienists and dental nurses could also play a crucial role in this.”

Last but not least, Denplan believes there is still a lot of work to be done to engender more preventative behaviours amongst the public as a further report this week² revealed that four in ten people fail to brush their teeth at least once a day.

Henry Clover concluded: “Dentists and their practice teams can also play their part by taking responsibility for improving oral health in their own communities by engaging with local authorities, schools, early years and other health services and helping to raise awareness of the links between oral health and overall health. The training of other health and care professionals such as midwives, school nurses, social workers and care home workers will also help ensure oral health messages are more widely disseminated, thereby helping to engender more preventive behaviours amongst the public.”

Sources:

¹ Denplan/YouGov Survey. Total sample size was 5,152 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 11^th-20^th January 2016. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

^{2 http://www.which.co.uk/news/2016/05/40-dont-use-a-toothbrush-at-least-once-a-day-441471/ (Accessed on the 11th May 2016)}

About Denplan

Denplan Limited is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist owned by Simplyhealth; with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million customers. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years. Today, Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to spread the cost of their private dental care through a fixed monthly fee. Denplan supports regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223         www.denplan.co.uk

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only

·         Corporate Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Certification Programme and Denplan Training.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

For more information about Denplan:

Rebecca Hutton

Denplan Press Office

Tel: 01962 829 179

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Follow us @denplandentists on Twitter and at linkedin.com/company/denplan-for-dentists

Denplan’s Excel programme, an advanced quality assurance programme, developed for dentists to help support clinical governance, professional regulation and excellence in patient care and communication has been formally assessed and accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). UKAS accreditation of the Excel programme is ground-breaking because it is the first dental service world-wide to achieve such recognition.

UKAS are the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess organisations that provide certification, testing and inspection services against internationally agreed standards. UKAS accredit over 3,000 organisations worldwide throughout industry, business and commerce for this purpose.  Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates an organisation’s competence, impartiality, capability and helps underpin the credibility of performance, goods and services. The accreditation of Denplan’s Excel programme will ensure that patients continue to receive high standards and quality of care in dentistry, which is supportive of current NHS and overall government healthcare objectives.

Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan, responsible for leading Denplan through the accreditation process commented:  “We are thrilled that fifteen years after the launch of the Excel programme, heralding the arrival of a unique quality assurance programme in UK dentistry, it has now been granted UKAS accreditation.  This is the culmination of an enormous amount of work to demonstrate that all aspects of the Excel programme conform to the ISO 17065 standard for bodies certifying products, processes and services.

“UKAS accreditation of the Denplan Excel programme is recognition that Denplan has the necessary competence, combined with robust procedures and operations in place to assess the wide range of clinical, governance, legal and regulatory tasks that dental practices have to perform. This will continue to ensure that high standards in patient care and communication are met by Denplan’s Excel dentists. 

“We believe that this accolade will also place all Excel dentists in a favourable position, as the GDC (General Dental Council) moves towards introducing a revalidation scheme (now known as ‘continuing assurance’) and regulators like the CQC also recognising the potential value of clinical service accreditation and peer review schemes as information sources to support its inspections*.”

Paul Stennett, Chief Executive of UKAS commented: “Congratulations to everyone at Denplan on becoming the world’s first dental service to achieve UKAS accreditation.  Confidence in the quality of a number of diverse health and social care services is already underpinned by UKAS accreditation, from imaging services and medical laboratories, to physiological services and care home inspections.  Accreditation of the Denplan Excel programme represents a natural extension of that confidence into the dental care sector, providing assurance to commissioners, providers and patients alike.”

Accreditation will be monitored through annual surveillance visits, with a full re-assessment every four years. Denplan Excel dentists will now be allowed to use the UKAS symbol alongside the Excel logo and Denplan will be supplying practices with a new Excel plaque free of charge.

Excel dentists also gain free access to Denplan’s market-leading patient communication and assessment tool, DEPPA. This is an evidence-based assessment which allows dentists to produce a colour coded report to present to patients which can help aid understanding and communication regarding their oral health and future risk of dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth wear and oral cancer. Further information about Denplan Excel and DEPPA can be found at www.denplan.co.uk/excel. 

*Source: http://www.ukas.com/news/cqc-recognition-of-ukas-healthcare-accreditation-schemes/

About Denplan

Denplan Limited is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist owned by Simplyhealth; with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million Denplan registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years. Today, Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to spread the cost of their private dental care through a fixed monthly fee. Denplan supports regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223

www.denplan.co.uk

• Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover
• Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only
• Corporate Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Certification Programme and Denplan Training.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

For more information about Denplan:

Rebecca Hutton

Denplan Press Office

Tel: 01962 829 179

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About Simplyhealth

We have been helping people with their health for over 140 years. Our roots are in the hospital funds set up during the Victorian era to help working people save for their medical care, and we still follow mutual values today. With no shareholders, our profits go back into supporting our customers and healthcare charitable causes, donating over £1 million each year. Last year, we donated £1.4 million.

In 2011, we acquired Denplan Limited, the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist. Simplyhealth has 1,391 employees based across our offices in Andover, Manchester, Leeds and Denplan in Winchester. We serve our 3.5 million customers through cash plans, dental plans, Denplan and pet health plans. Simplyhealth has Independent Living Centres which provide daily living and mobility products, including powerchairs, mobility scooters and wheelchairs, in Andover, Bristol, Burnham, Droitwich, Kenilworth, Leeds, Northfield, Norwich, Sutton Coldfield, Telford, Willenhall and Wolverhampton.

Simplyhealth is a trading name of Simplyhealth Access, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

For further information:

http://newsroom.simplyhealth.co.uk/

Caroline Newton, Public Relations and Social Media Manager 0344 579 2274

Laura Miller, Media Relations Officer 0344 579 2266

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Follow us on Twitter @SimplyhealthUK and at Facebook.com/SimplyhealthUK

About UKAS

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the National Accreditation Body (NAB) for the UK.  Its role is to assess evaluating organisations to international standards.  UKAS operates under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).  UKAS accreditation involves assessment of certification, inspection, testing and calibration services.  For further information about UKAS visit: www.ukas.com.

All media enquiries should be directed to Phil Russell in the UKAS press office: E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. T: 020 7689 5155

A recent video from Denplan, the UK’s leading dental payment plan provider, has highlighted the staggering sugar content of festive drinks found in many of the popular high street coffee chains – including a specialist hot chocolate that contains up to 24 teaspoons of sugar. If these drinks are accompanied by cakes or other sweet treats, the amount of sugar consumed can double.

“While most people will probably be aware that their festive drink contains some levels of sugar, they might not be aware of the sheer quantity,” says Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan. “Many of the festive coffees, lattes and hot chocolates that we looked at across a range of high street coffee chains contained, on average, around 12 to 18 teaspoons of sugar in their largest portion sizes. One caramel fudge hot chocolate from a popular coffee chain even contained a shocking 24 teaspoons of sugar – that’s the equivalent to around two and a half cans of cola.

“As a one-off treat, a sugary festive drink won’t do you any harm, but if you get into the habit of frequently consuming high levels of sugar, this may cause tooth decay. Every time we eat or drink something sugary, bacteria in our mouths produce acids that can cause tooth decay. A high sugar diet is also linked to other health problems such as obesity and diabetes.”

The vast amounts of sugar found in high street coffee chain beverages is especially concerning in light of guidelines from the World Health Organisation published earlier this year*. The WHO suggests that adults should consume no more than 12 teaspoons of ‘free’ sugars a day, but should really be aiming for six. ‘Free’ sugars refer to sugar that is added to foods and drinks, as well as things like honey and fruit juices.

In addition, research conducted earlier this year by YouGov on behalf Denplan** also suggests that consumers would welcome knowing more about the levels of sugar found in their food and drinks, and would even like to see an overall reduction in sugar content. The survey revealed that only a third of UK adults (35%) think that retailers and food companies do enough to inform them of how much sugar is in food and drinks. Of those who disagreed that retailers and food companies do enough, 73% said retailers and food companies should reduce the overall sugar content in food and drinks.

So what are the healthier options for a festive beverage this Christmas?

“It’s certainly not all doom and gloom for the Yuletide season – it’s all about being informed and enjoying things in moderation,” says Henry. “Opting for a peppermint tea or an Americano coffee or plain latte with sugar-free syrup can warm you up without the added sugar.

“If you do decide to sample a speciality coffee during the festive period, make sure you’re aware of the sugar content before you order, and try to drink this as part of a balanced meal.”

*Source: World Health Organization, March 2015 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/

**Denplan/YouGov Survey February 2015. The survey was carried out online. Total sample size was 5,315 adults.

About Denplan

Denplan is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist, with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years and today the company is owned by Simplyhealth. Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling

patients to budget for their private dental care by spreading the cost through a fixed monthly fee. We support regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. For further information visit www.denplan.co.uk. For oral health tips and advice visit www.myteeth.co.uk. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223
 

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover

·         Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only

·         Company Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes
 

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training, plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

For more information about Denplan:

Sara Elliott

Denplan Press Office

Tel: 01962 828 194

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About Simplyhealth

We have been helping people with their health for over 140 years. Our roots are in the hospital funds set up during the Victorian era to help working people save for their medical care, and we still follow mutual values today. With no shareholders, our profits go back into supporting our customers and healthcare charitable causes, donating over £1 million each year. Last year, we donated £1.4 million.

In 2011, we acquired Denplan Limited, the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist. Simplyhealth has 1,391 employees based across our offices in Andover, Manchester, Leeds and Denplan in Winchester. We serve our 3.5 million customers through cash plans, dental plans, Denplan and pet health plans. Simplyhealth has Independent Living Centres which provide daily living and mobility products, including powerchairs, mobility scooters and wheelchairs, in Andover, Bristol, Burnham, Droitwich, Kenilworth, Leeds, Northfield, Norwich, Sutton Coldfield, Telford, Willenhall and Wolverhampton.

Simplyhealth is a trading name of Simplyhealth Access, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

For further information:

http://newsroom.simplyhealth.co.uk/

Denplan, the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist, has welcomed George Osborne’s call for clearer dental pricing and treatment plans in HM Treasury’s “A Better Deal” report, which was published this week. 

The report stated that pricing for dentistry can be opaque and confusing and that the government wants to ensure that dentist treatment plans and price lists are clear and easily accessible, empowering patients in England to make the best choices.

Roger Matthews, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan said: “Clear communication between dentists and patients is fundamental in every dental practice, especially in regards to treatment plans and pricing. We strongly agree with the Chancellor’s statement in the report that all dental patients should have access to the information they need to make the right decisions about their dental care.

“Denplan encourages all member dental practices to build in enough discussion time with their patients to allow them to explain treatment options and any associated costs. Denplan is also a co-originator and signatory of the BDA Private Dental Plans Code of Practice. The code emphasises the need to provide patients with adequate information about the choices available, work with clear and fair contracts, ensure they understand the payment procedures for each option and, where appropriate, any on-going costs or exclusions, and have in place a system for dealing with complaints and feedback.”

Denplan has a range of support services available to its member dentists and this includes providing regular guidance and materials for practices to use. Roger Matthews continued:

“Denplan member practices are able to access a price list template to ensure they are following the General Dental Council’s standards which requires practices to display their price lists. Through a network of field-based consultants across the UK (supported by an office-based team), Denplan also works continually with member practices to provide business support, which includes helping practices to set their fees fairly.”

In a 2014 Denplan patient survey of over 8,800 patients, 90% said that Denplan allows them to budget for their dental care and treatment^*. Roger Matthews added: “We find that patients appreciate the clarity that comes with a dental payment plan as they prefer to know exactly what their dental care is going to cost each month without any unexpected bills.”

“Osborne’s report today should serve as a sharp reminder to all types of practices (NHS or private) on the requirement to provide patients with the most comprehensive information on treatment options and pricing. If greater transparency in this area helps patients make more informed choices about their dental care and oral health it can only be a positive step forward for dentistry.”

www.denplan.co.uk

*Your Denplan Survey Oct-Dec 2014. Total respondents: 8,802.

• Nearly 60,000 online searches on the ‘Find a Dentist’ page - a 223% increase*
• More than 150,000 visitors to the Denplan Website - 158% increase**
• Over 26,000 visits to the #Doitforyourselfie microsite in October

• 1 million people reached on social media, using #doitforyourselfie
• The advert was viewed over 200,000 times on social media
• The advert was viewed for 123 hours on Twitter

• The advert reached over 20 million consumers across the UK
• On average people saw the advert four times

• 90% of Denplan’s member dentists agreed with the statement: “I am proud that Denplan are encouraging people to love their teeth”

Thanks for reading as always, let me know your thoughts on this campaign and how it was received by your patients?

Denplan has launched a new upgraded version of The Denplan PreViser Patient Assessment (DEPPA) tool.  DEPPA provides an instantaneous online report showing a patient’s Oral Health Score, alongside giving an evidence-based assessment of a patient's risk of future diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth wear and oral cancer.

DEPPA first launched its innovative patient assessment tool in May 2013, marking a pivotal moment in clinical risk assessment, supporting effective communication and truly placing patients and their future oral health at the very centre of effective and preventive care.

Denplan has launched an enhanced version of DEPPA, following valued and valuable input from its Excel dentists. Denplan Excel is an advanced quality assurance programme, developed for dentists to help support clinical governance, professional regulation and excellence in patient care and communication.  The upgraded version of DEPPA will contain three substantial benefits:

• Firstly, patient data and reports will be stored securely within the DEPPA system.  This means that whilst it is still best practice to save reports to the practice’s management software/clinical records, they can simply be accessed at any time from the DEPPA home page.
• Secondly, for a patient who has had a previous DEPPA assessment, this can be linked to the current one.  A new third page will appear on these follow up assessments which shows the results of up to two previous assessments, thus increasing patient’s understanding of how their oral health and future risk is changing.
• And thirdly, the practice analysis reporting has been enhanced.  This enables practices to audit their patients in depth, over any period of their choosing and at anytime.

Commenting on the enhancements to DEPPA, Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan said:  “We’re extremely proud of how popular the DEPPA tool has become since its launch over two and half years ago – over 50,000 patients have now benefitted from the evidence based tool, which is designed to help improve the patient experience and significantly improve their understanding of their oral health. It is also a valuable clinical decision support tool.

“We value the continued input from our member dentists, which enables DEPPA and our Excel programme as a whole to continue to develop.  The upgrades to DEPPA have been trialled already and we are confident they are straightforward to implement and will significantly enhance the usability of the tool for dentists.”

DEPPA has received  extremely positive feedback from both patients and dentists - 100% of dentists asked agreed that the DEPPA report is a ‘valuable patient communication aid’, while 95% agreed that comprehensive patient assessments, such as DEPPA, are becoming an essential aspect of quality dental care.*

Denplan has produced a simple guide to using the upgrade, for existing users of DEPPA, which is available alongside the main DEPPA manual.  DEPPA remains free to all Excel dentists, whilst non-Excel Denplan members can benefit from unlimited use of the online system for just £90 per month (inc VAT).  For more information about DEPPA or to sign up online, visit

http://www.denplan.co.uk/dentists/denplan-excel/deppa

Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years and this October we have launched our largest ever national TV campaign, with a TV ad that is being aired for three weeks on a host of popular channels.  You’ll be able to find out lots more about this campaign at Denplan’s Stand (M25) at the BDIA Showcase this week.

In nutshell, the ad plays on todays’ selfie-obsessed culture by using humour to dramatise what happens when people lack confidence about their teeth whilst taking a selfie. Denplan believes it’s a concept that many of us can relate to as Denplan’s research with YouGov revealed just how popular selfies are today… a staggering 5.6 million selfies are taken in an average day by adults online.  Furthermore, nearly three quarters (74%) of adults have worried about how their teeth look in photographs.*

There is a fun interactive element to the ad with the incorporation of a hashtag (#doitforyourselfie) encouraging people to generate and post their own selfie via Twitter, Instagram, or via www.doitforyourselfie.co.uk.  Visitors to the Denplan stand will have the opportunity to take their own selfie and upload it there and then to the doitforyourselfie.co.uk gallery, as there will be an interactive selfie wall on the stand. By uploading a selfie, participants will automatically enter the #doitforyourselfie competition to win £2,000 of UK holiday park gift vouchers and an Iphone 6s**

Richard Ward, Head of marketing at Denplan says: “The ad has moved away from the typical clinical or educational advertisements that could be for any number of dental products. Instead, viewers will see a memorable, impactful ad using humour to engage them. The aim of the ad is to make everyone feel proud of their smile, and to highlight the importance of preventive care and regular dental visits and it encourages patients to seek advice from a Denplan dentist.

“Our intention with the ad is that it will also capitalise on the unique strength of the Denplan consumer brand which will work in partnership with Denplan’s member practices own brands to help them stand out in a competitive market. We believe the ad will provide dentists with the ideal opportunity to talk to their patients about the benefits of joining Denplan and drive more patients into their practices.”

As an example of the marketing support Denplan provides for its member practices, every practice has been sent a #doitforyourselfie pack which contains a range of marketing tools to help practices make the most of the campaign, including some eye catching background posters and a selfie stick so that practice teams can encourage patients to take a “post check-up selfie” and enter the #doitforyourselfie competition.

If you haven’t seen the ad yet, don’t worry as you won’t be able to miss it at the BDIA Showcase!  You can come and view the ad on our stand, where our friendly Denplan consultants will also be available to talk to you about the wide range of services we offer. There will be a private seating area where you can have an in-depth chat with a Denplan consultant.  Please do come along and learn more about our wide range of dental plans for adults and children, which enables patients to spread the cost of their private dental care through a fixed monthly fee. Denplan supports regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life.

*Source: YouGov survey for Denplan. Survey was carried out online with 2077 adults, September 2015. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+)

** Competition open to Denplan patients and non-Denplan patients aged 18+. Closing date, midnight on the 4th November 2015. Full terms and conditions apply and can be found at denplan.co.uk/selfieterms

On Wednesday the 7th of October, GDPUK were invited to the launch of Denplan’s new TV advert which will air on our screens from Saturday night (10th Oct) and will run for approximately 3 weeks.

The campaign demonstrates Denplan’s huge investment and commitment to dentistry and the dental practices that they work with. An impressive £1.2 million has been spent on this campaign.

After a short consultation period, Denplan have used the advertising agency “brothers and sisters” to design the advert. Established since 2008, they have a number of famous campaigns in their portfolio including the Thierry Henry advert that aired this year which can be viewed below. Great advert, especially the part when he joins Alex Ferguson and Brian Kidd on the Old Trafford turf!

The Denplan advert

So what does the advert entail? It shows a young man taking a selfie on a day out but everytime he smiles, he snaps his horrendous teeth. These teeth are obviously quite extreme to get the message across and were created by the special effects team at Fangs Fx. (If you click on the link, it gives you a great idea of what they are capable of!) So the bloke starts coming up with ways to cover his teeth, eg putting his cat in front of his mouth or putting his hand in front of his teeth. The producers behind the advert have gone for something that will make the viewers smile and also gets people interacting, which seems to be the current trend for TV adverts, as exposure is limited with the way we all watch TV these days. Let us know what you think, when the advert airs over the weekend? Does it make you smile?

The aim

Denplan would like to increase brand awareness, plus of course help Denplan’s member practices stand out in the competitive market of attracting / retaining patients. Practices have been sent a large amount of marketing material that will be used to engage with patients, so in conjunction with the advert, it will provide excellent opportunities to talk to their patients and forms a part of their practice marketing.

Denplan conducted some selfie research which gives further credence to the campaign. A YouGov survey revealed that a staggering 5.6 million selfies are taken in an average day by adults online which equates to an incredible 2 billion plus per year!  Three quarters (74%) of adults have worried about how their teeth look in photographs and a third of adults (33%) have smiled but purposely not shown their teeth due to being embarrassed by them, so selfies and smiles was an easy place for Denplan to focus their efforts. 

The Impact

So from a dental perspective, what impact will this bring on UK Dentistry? A few thoughts to consider:-

1. Obviously there will be a huge impact for Denplan dental practices but will other dental plan providers also receive a boost? I believe it gets people thinking about their teeth and their dentist, so its a positive piece of marketing for all dental practices.

2. It is fantastic to move away from traditional tv dental advertising and instead Denplan have embraced a modern and fresh approach…. Everyone at the event agreed that this was a brave move and the small crowd were certainly positive about the message that Denplan are hoping to achieve.

3. The use of social media and a hashtag #doitforyourselfie taps nicely into a younger, celebrity obsessed crowd but if it gets the public visiting the dentist on a more frequent basis and talking about dentistry in a positive light, then surely this is a good thing? Dr Roger Matthews (Chief Dental Officer) of Denplan mentioned that motivation is key with patients and he believes that running this campaign could be a great way of motivating patients to visit their dentist on a regular basis and that is obviously the overall aim of the campaign.

4. Dentists are often negatively portrayed in the media but I believe it is refreshing to see a slightly humorous take on the Dental world but with a positive message that people in Britain our proud of their smiles and possibly the work dentists have done on their teeth? This will hopefully be demonstrated over the next few days, as the public share their selfies on www.doitforyourselfie.co.uk. Already a number of selfies have been uploaded!

Unfortunately I can't provide a copy of the advert just yet but I will update this blog with the advert once it has had its premiere. Over the next few days we will be keeping a close eye on the microsite, to see whether it captures the public imagination and the general reaction from the dental community on social media. We certainly hope it does capture the imagination and as stated previously, it achieves the positive message that Denplan are striving for. Please let us know what you think and how the advert will be received?

** Blog now updated**

The advert is due to be shown at 15:28 on ITV1 on Saturday afternoon.

#doitforyourselfie

www.doitforyourselfie.co.uk

Denplan has today announced that it will be running a high-profile national TV advertising campaign throughout October.  The ad has been produced by one of the UK’s leading creative agencies, Brothers and Sisters.  They successfully demonstrated a unique and creative approach to answer Denplan’s brief by developing an innovative strategy connecting the importance of good oral health and visiting a dentist with the current social phenomenon of the “selfie culture”.  

The first airing of the TV ad will be on primetime television during the Scotland v Samoa Rugby World Cup match on the afternoon of Saturday 10^th October and it will be aired for three weeks on a host of popular channels, including ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Channel 5. 

The aim of the ad is to capitalise on the unique strength of the Denplan consumer brand which will work in partnership with Denplan’s member practices own brands to help them stand out in a competitive market. The ad will provide dentists with the ideal opportunity to talk to their patients about the benefits of joining Denplan. The ad has also been created to help Denplan engage with a larger audience and build affinity with more consumers, alerting them to the importance of loving their teeth and looking after their oral health and encouraging them to find and talk to a Denplan dentist.

Richard Ward, Head of Marketing at Denplan commented: “The ad has moved away from the typical clinical or educational advertisements that could be for any number of dental products. Instead, viewers will see a memorable, impactful ad using humour to engage them.  The ad plays on todays’ selfie-obsessed culture by using humour to dramatise what happens when people lack confidence about their teeth whilst taking a selfie.  There is also a fun interactive element with the incorporation of a hashtag (#doitforyourselfie) encouraging people to generate and post their own selfie via Twitter, Instagram. Facebook or via www.doitforyourselfie.co.uk.”

Denplan conducted some selfie research which gives further credence to the campaign. The YouGov survey revealed that a staggering 5.6 million selfies are taken in an average day by adults online which equates to an incredible 2 billion plus per year!  Three quarters (74%) of adults have worried about how their teeth look in photographs and a third of adults (33%) have smiled but purposely not shown their teeth due to being embarrassed by them*.

Richard Ward continued: “We want everyone to feel proud of their smile, so the TV ad highlights the importance of preventive care and encourages patients to seek advice from a Denplan dentist. We’ve also produced a lot of supporting collateral for our member dentists and their practices to use, to support this nationwide campaign so that it becomes a real talking point with both their new and existing patients. 

“All practices have been sent a #doitforyourselfie pack which contains a range of marketing tools to help practices make the most of the campaign, including some eye catching background posters and a selfie stick so that practice teams can encourage patients to take a “post check-up selfie” and enter  the #doitforyourselfie competition. There are also post check-up selfie stickers to give to participating patients.” 

Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer Roger Matthews has also been involved in advising on the campaign and says: “Research has shown that using humour to emotionally engage with people creates more impact and recall than non-humorous adverts, so we were confident that the humorous approach was the right way forward for Denplan’s dental ad. That said, this meant it was vitally important to consult dentists in the making of the ad, especially when we were working on producing the tooth and gum prosthetics.

“We wanted to ensure the ad remained sensitive to real dental conditions that are no fault of the patient – such as chipped or misaligned teeth - but at the same time we needed to convey a positive feeling towards the importance of visiting the dentist regularly and having a good oral health routine to prevent problems before they start.  Without paying adequate attention to your teeth and oral health, it’s possible that people’s teeth may not always look or feel good, which can impact confidence.”

As one of the UK’s leading providers of corporate dental plans, with more than 1,900 schemes covering over 190,000 employees, Denplan is also encouraging companies to take note of the campaign and use the opportunity to raise awareness and educate employees about the importance of good oral health. Promotional marketing packs containing a double-sided selfie zone poster have also being sent to Denplan’s corporate clients with employees also eligible to enter the #doitforyourselfie competition.

Simplyhealth who bought Denplan in 2011, has invested £1.2 million into the project, making it Denplan’s biggest advertising campaign to date. The Denplan ad supports Simplyhealth’s long term everyday health strategy – of which Denplan and dentistry is a key part. 

www.doitforyourselfie.co.uk

#doitforyourselfie

References

*Source: Online YouGov Survey for Denplan. Survey was carried out online with 2,077 UK adults. The figures have been weighted are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

Denplan is urging the British public to go sugar-fee for September, following the results of its latest survey of over 2,000 adults¹, which has shown a desperate need for better sugar education as Britons think chocolate, sweets and fruit juice contain no sugar.

It appears the public are clueless when it comes to sussing sugar in foods, as one in five (21%) don’t believe chocolate contains sugar, with the same amount (22%) thinking biscuits are sugar-free too. Drinks are not immune from sugar ignorance either, with almost half (47%) of respondents believing that neither wine or beer contain sugar. Perhaps more worryingly, over a third (38%) of people asked did not know that fruit juice contained sugar, despite warnings from Action on Sugar that many juices contain at least six teaspoons of sugar - more than cola².

Other food and drinks which respondents believed were free of sugar included the below:

-      Sweets (20%)

-      Hot chocolate (30%)

-      Fruit (40%)

-      Spirits (58%)

-      Fizzy drinks (20%)

-      Sports drinks (26%)

-      Energy drinks (28%)

This worrying lack of knowledge could be reaping havoc on the nation’s teeth. Many patients are not aware that each time sugar is consumed, teeth are under acid attack for up to one hour, producing harmful acids and increasing the risk of tooth decay. Some are also unaware that fizzy drinks could be just as harmful to the teeth and that carbon dioxide gas is used to create bubbles in fizzy drinks, which then turns into a very dilute acid in the drink. This exposure to dilute acid can lead to the dissolving of tooth enamel if consumed on a regular basis.

The new results also showed a clear need for more clarity on labelling of products, as 54% admitted that they wanted to reduce their sugar consumption, but just one in five respondents could decipher whether a product contains sugar by reading ingredient labels. 80% said they don’t always check the list of ingredients before buying or eating food, and over a third of respondents (38%) said they didn’t know the difference between ‘sugar-free’ and ‘no added sugar’. 

Whilst this low level of knowledge may seem surprising, it’s now harder than ever to avoid sugar, even in unexpected foods such as bread, sauces, flavoured water drinks and canned soups. And looking at the labels for sugar content isn’t always straightforward, as there are over 30 different names for sugar – including fructose, lactose, glucose, and dextrose. 

Although a range of diets have advocated a low or no-sugar approach over the last year, in reality, less than half of respondents had tried to quit sugar, and less than 10% have successfully done so for more than a year, with a quarter lasting less than a month.

Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan said “With sugar ‘hidden’ in so many unexpected foods and drinks, managing our daily sugar consumption can be a challenge. Not only is this detrimental for the nation’s general health, it can also significantly affect our oral health because the frequency at which we consume sugar is a huge factor in tooth decay. However, there are so many simple changes people can make on a daily basis to cut back on unwanted sugar and still enjoy a healthy and tasty diet, leaving them with healthy habits that their teeth will thank them for.”

Worried about the lack of knowledge surrounding sugar consumption, Denplan are urging Brits to go sugar-free for September. Logging on to www.sugar-free-september.co.uk will give patients access to information on hidden sugars, reveal the health risks of too much sugar consumption, provide tips on how to cut back on sugar and explain the importance of regular dentist visits and a better oral health regime.

References

¹  A Onepoll survey of 2,000 participants conducted in May 2015

² http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29986012

Denplan has partnered with Aon Employee Benefits, the UK health and benefits business of Aon plc, to offer its member dentists a simple pension auto-enrolment solution for their dental practices called ‘Littleblue’.  The law on workplace pensions has changed, with all employers now legally required to automatically enrol certain staff into a pension scheme and make contributions. 

Although many dental practices won’t have reached their auto-enrolment staging date yet (the date at which an employer’s auto-enrolment responsibilities come into effect), it is important that practices are aware of the new regulations and start to prepare for the changes now. Aon’s auto-enrolment solution “Littleblue” will be able to support practices with a step by step pension solution which can significantly ease the burden of complying with the new pension regulations.

Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan said: “We believe there are many dental practices that are not yet aware of how the law on workplace pensions has changed, or if they do know about the new regulations, they may not have started preparing for auto-enrolment yet. We are working closely with Aon to inform our members about the pension changes and how this could impact their practice. We are also encouraging them to start preparing for auto-enrolment at least six months before their staging date.  We believe Aon’s Littleblue auto-enrolment solution will save our members time and effort and give practices the tools necessary to navigate smoothly through the process. Denplan members will also benefit from a specially negotiated price during their first three years using the service.”

Clare Abrahams, head of auto-enrolment at Aon Employee Benefits, said:

“Littleblue was designed to help smaller organisations through the auto-enrolment process.  That is now approaching its climax in 2016 with staging to reach levels in the hundreds of thousands every quarter from the beginning of the year.  It is still an involved process in which the correct compliance is a key factor and small employers will welcome the streamlined approach that Littleblue offers.

“Denplan, with its thousands of member dentists across the country, is aiming to make the auto-enrolment process easier for its members by partnering with a provider. We are very pleased to be working with them and look forward to rolling Littleblue out across its member dental practices.”

Denplan and Aon are also working together to organise a number of interactive Q&A webinars for member dental practices to address any concerns or issues practices may have with regards to the new pension regulations.

Denplan has released its latest research (commissioned through Facts International), based on a survey asking NHS dentists* for their views on a variety of issues related to NHS dentistry.  The survey examined their opinions about the current contract as well as their knowledge of the pilots and prototypes.  Other key issues the NHS dentists were asked about included their confidence around NHS funding commitments filtering through to primary care dentistry, motivation levels for making changes to their practice situation and the impact of the Friends and Family Test. 

The key findings are summarised below:

Current NHS contract and prototypes

• Nearly half the dentists (49%) are dissatisfied with working under the current NHS contract, with only 3% very satisfied and 29% saying they are fairly satisfied
• Two thirds (65%) of dentists don’t feel very knowledgeable about the current situation regarding NHS dentistry pilots and prototypes, rating their knowledge as fair or poor
• Three quarters (76%) agree that they are frustrated that more than four years after piloting began we are still no nearer to a final model
• 57% of these frustrated dentists have decided on making changes to their practice in the next 12 months
• Only 54% are aware that the pilots will soon terminate and that a number of practices will act as prototypes for the reformed NHS contracts in England.  66% of these think that it is unlikely the prototype model will free them from the UDA system

NHS funding for primary care dentistry

• 95% of dentists are not confident that political assurances for NHS funding commitments will filter down to primary care dentistry
• 56% think that the 2006 contract’s cap on the dental budget will not be reversed
• 86% of dentists overwhelmingly agree they would like NHS England to state clearly what is and what is not available in NHS dentistry – just 2% disagreed

Impact of Friends and Family Test

• 72% have commenced using the Friends and Family Test (FFT) that was introduced in April but the majority of respondents (73%)  didn’t think the FFT would be useful for either their practice or their patients

Roger Matthews, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan commented: “It is apparent from these survey results that many NHS dentists continue to feel disillusioned and frustrated with the lack of clear direction around the NHS contract changes. There also appears to be a general lack of understanding in relation to the pilots and prototype models.  With the realisation that the NHS funding situation for primary care dentistry does not look likely to improve, it is unsurprising that many NHS dentists may be feeling uncertain as to the future viability of their practice if they stay with the NHS. The result is that a significant proportion of NHS dentists are considering a change to the way they manage and fund their practice in the foreseeable future.

“Dentists appear to also be concerned about the hours it will take their practice to compile the statistics from the now mandatory Friends and Family Test, with half saying it will take their practice between 1-4 hours a month to process the results. This could add up to the equivalent of at least 6 days a year spent away from delivering patient care.”

Matthews added: “Managing the transition from NHS to private dentistry can be a daunting prospect for many dentists, but at Denplan we have a long heritage in supporting NHS dentists in making this transition, helping to ensure they retain their practice income and continue to run a successful practice in the future.   Denplan ‘Principal only Transitions’ give dentists the option to retain NHS patients whilst benefitting from all the support and experience necessary to choose the right payment plan for them, their practice and their patients.”

Denplan is running a series of seminars throughout June, entitled “Your practice, Your Choices” which will examine the upcoming changes to  NHS contracts for dentists, how dentists might be affected and help them understand what actions they need to be considering now.  For further information and to book a place practices can visit: www.denplan.co.uk/events-and-training/your-practice-your-choices or call 0800 169 5697.

*100 dentists responded to an online survey in April and May 2015, with all respondents holding an NHS contract in England, treating over 70% of their patient base as NHS patients.  They were not part of a corporate body or a member of a payment plan provider.