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Digital

Publication, Part of

Dental Treatment Band Analysis - England and Wales, 2007-08

Official statistics
Publication Date:
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Regions, Dental practices, Integrated Care Boards, Local Authorities
Date Range:
01 Apr 2007 to 31 Mar 2008

Summary

This report provides information on NHS dental activity within a sample of adult Courses of Treatment (CoTs). Information was taken from a sample of 9,822 CoTs in England and 1,446 CoTs in Wales, processed between April 2007 and March 2008, covering dental contracts across all Primary Care Trusts in England and Local Health Boards in Wales. This information is compared to equivalent information for 2003/04. This information is sourced from the Dental Services Division (DSD) of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA).

A new dental contract system was introduced in England and Wales on 1 April 2006. One element of the new contractual arrangements was a move away from recording individual treatment items (which was the basis of payments to dentists under the old arrangements) to a simpler system whereby CoTs are divided into three main bands, based on the most complex treatment within the course. This report looks at equivalent dental activity data under the old and new contractual arrangements.

This report measures treatment activity in three ways:

  • the percentage of CoTs that contain a particular type of treatment (e.g. 70 per cent of CoTs contained an examination)
  • the number of treatment items in every 100 CoTs (e.g. 120 teeth filled in every 100 CoTs)
  • the average number of items for CoTs containing that treatment (e.g. an average of 2 crowns per CoT for CoTs containing one or more crowns)

This report has been produced by The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. A joint working group with representation from the NHS Information Centre, the Department of Health (DH), the secretariat of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB), the British Dental Association (BDA), the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) and the DSD was consulted on this study and the content of the report.

Highlights

The key findings below report on the changes shown in treatment activity within adult CoTs between 2003/04 and 2007/08.

Within Band 1 Courses of Treatment (CoTs):

  • in England, the incidence of radiographs (x-rays) has decreased. In 2007/08, 12.5 per cent of CoTs contained a radiograph, compared to 18.3 per cent in 2003/04. Furthermore, 21.8 radiographs were taken in every 100 CoTs compared to 34.5 in 2003/04, and the average number of radiographs for CoTs with a radiograph decreased from 1.9 to 1.7. There were no significant differences shown for Wales.

Within Band 2 and Band 1 Urgent Courses of Treatment (CoTs) :

  • in England, the proportion of Band 2 and Band 1 urgent CoTs which included a root-filling has fallen, from 7.1 per cent in 2003/04 to 3.2 per cent in 2007/08 and the number root-filled per 100 CoT has decreased from 7.7 to 3.3. For Wales, the percentage of CoTs including a root-filling has decreased from 6.2 per cent to 3.3 per cent, and the number of root-fillings in every 100 CoTs has decreased from 6.6 to 3.3.
  • for England, the average number of fillings per CoT for those CoTs with a filling decreased from 1.7 to 1.4. This measure also decreased for Wales, from 1.7 to 1.5.

Within Band 3 Courses of Treatment (CoTs):

  • In England, the percentage of CoTs including dentures increased from 38.1 per cent in 2003/04 to 47.9 per cent in 2007/08, with partial dentures increasing from 27.2 per cent to 33.9 per cent. Significant differences were not shown for Wales. The percentage of CoTs containing full upper and lower dentures remained similar for both England and Wales.
  • There has been a reduction in the percentage of CoTs including a crown from 47.8 per cent to 35.3 percent in England, and from 44.3 per cent to 35.1 per cent in Wales. The number of crowns per 100 CoT has decreased from 64.1 to 38.1 in England, and from 61.8 to 37.6 in Wales.
  • The average number of units of bridgework in CoTs with bridgework decreased from 3.3 to 2.5 for England, and from 3.1 to 2.6 for Wales.

Across all Courses of Treatment (CoTs):

  • The percentage of CoTs including a radiograph decreased from 25.6 per cent to 17.7 per cent for England, and from 20.2 per cent to 14.4 per cent for Wales. The number of radiographs in every 100 CoTs has also decreased over the same period, from 52.4 to 29.5 for England, and from 37.6 to 23.6 for Wales.
  • In England, there has been a reduction in the percentage of CoTs including a filling from 28.3 per cent to 26.0 per cent, and the average number of fillings in CoTs with fillings has reduced from 1.8 to 1.4.
  • In England the percentage of CoTs including a root-filling decreased from 3.4 per cent to 1.7 per cent, with the number per 100 CoT decreasing from 3.9 to 1.8. For Wales, the percentage of CoTs including a root-filling decreased from 3.0 per cent to 1.7 per cent, and the number per 100 CoTs decreased from 3.3 to 1.8.
  • The percentage of CoTs including an extraction has increased from 6.9 per cent to 7.9 per cent for England, and from 7.8 to 9.3 per cent for Wales.

Resources

Last edited: 11 April 2018 4:08 pm