Thousands of elderly people are at increased risk of pneumonia this winter if they fail to brush their teeth regularly new research has found.The Dental Health Foundation has warned that poor oral hygiene could cause the respiratory infection after research found a link between bacteria in the mouth and the lung disease.

Dr Samit Joshi of Yale University School of Medicine found changes in bacteria in the mouth preceded the development of pneumonia.

He concluded that this process “suggests that changes in oral bacteria play a role in the risk for developing pneumonia”.

Pneumonia is thought to affect more than 620,000 people in the UK and claims the lives of around five per cent of those who contract the disease. Which means that it kills more than ten times the number of people who die in the UK from road accidents.

Although further research is required to determine the exact relationship between oral health and pneumonia, it is not the first time the two diseases have been linked.

Poor oral health has been associated with respiratory diseases for a number of years, as bacterial chest infections are thought to be caused by breathing in fine droplets from the throat and mouth into the lungs.

This can cause infections, such as pneumonia, or could worsen an existing condition.

Studies have even suggested a higher mortality rate from pneumonia in people with higher numbers of gum problems.

The findings of the study present further evidence that there’s a significant health risk to the elderly and the young, according to Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter.

Dr Carter said: “During the winter months we’re all susceptible to colds, coughs and chesty viruses due to the drop in temperature. What people must remember, particularly those highlighted as vulnerable, is that prevention can be very basic.

“Systemic links between gum disease and overall health have been well documented, and at this time of year keeping up good oral health can really help stave off illness.

“Simply brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day using a fluoride toothpaste, cleaning in between teeth daily with interdental brushes or floss, cutting down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks and visiting the dentist regularly, as often as they recommend will be a great starting point.

“If you have swollen gums that bleed regularly when brushing, bad breath, loose teeth or regular mouth infections appear, it is likely you have gum disease.

“If any of these symptoms persist, or signs of pneumonia develop, visit your dentist and GP immediately.”

The research was presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America annual meeting in Boston looked at 37 subjects for a one month period.

Some dentists are overcharging NHS patients by hundreds of pounds a time, an undercover investigation has found.
They are quoting patients up to £725 for work which should cost just £198, under the current three tiered payment system for NHS work.

They are also commonly neglecting to offer patients a scale and polish alongside a check-up, which should both be covered under the lowest tier of work, and are instead trying to sell it as a private add-on.

Dentists should provide NHS patients with all the treatment that is “clinically necessary in order to keep your mouth, teeth and gums healthy”, according to a Department of Health leaflet.

Patients should pay a single charge depending on the complexity of the work, even if more than one procedure needs to be carried out.

The leaflet makes clear: “If your dentist says that you need a particular type of treatment, you should not be asked to pay for it privately.”

However, an undercover reporter for Channel 4′s Dispatches programme, who needed root canal work and a new crown, was mis-quoted by three dentists he went to see.

Under current NHS rules, they should have said both procedures were covered under Band 3 pricing, costing the patient a single charge of £198.

But one quoted him £725 for both pieces of work; the second said the crown was covered by the £198 NHS fee, but that the root canal work would cost him £480 as a private piece of work; while the third gave a similar quote, saying the root canal work would cost £400.

Seven more undercover patients went for check ups at different dentists. None of them was offered a scale and polish as part of NHS treatment, although they all needed one, even though this should be included under Band 1 treatment, which at the time carried a £16.50 charge.

Three of them were told they could opt to see a hygienist privately, a service typically costing £25 to £40.

Dentists say the way the banding system works pushes them towards wrongly charging extra for treatment – known as ‘gaming’.

Danny Pretorius, who stopped doing NHS work last year, told the programme: “If you had to do everything by the book like you should do, it would be virtually impossible to earn a reasonable living.”

The current “payment by procedure” system, which was introduced by Labour in 2006, has been very unpopular with dentists.

Last December the Coalition announced it was to be abolished and replaced with a “payment by patient” system, to encourage more preventive work.

Pilots of three variants of the new scheme are due to start around the country this summer.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We are committed to improving dental access, and we will achieve this sustainably by replacing the existing dental contract with one that pays dentists for the number of patients registered and the quality of the care they provide, rather than the number of treatments carried out.”

*Dispatches: The Truth About Your Dentist was broadcast on Channel 4 at 8pm last night (Monday).

Health authorities should stop wasting money on “ineffective” operations like tonsil removals and wisdom teeth extractions, according to the quango Audit Commission.
It has calculated that the NHS could save £500 million a year by doing so, that could be put towards more worthwhile treatments.

Its briefing, Reducing expenditure on low clinical value treatments, found that a clearer approach among primary care trusts (PCTs) to what it called “ineffective or inefficient treatments” would ensure more consistency across the country.

It came as another report, by the health think-tank The King’s Fund, criticised “persistent and widespread variations across England in patients’ chances of undergoing surgery for common medical problems”.

Both reports, by coincidence issued on the same day, agreed that some patients were undergoing operations “that do not benefit them”, in the words of The King’s Fund.

However, while the Audit Commission report focused on the potential cost savings of reducing operations, The King’s Fund called for an end to the “unfair” and “inefficient” variations in accessing worthwhile surgery.

The former identified tonsil removals as “relatively ineffective” and hysterectomies in cases of heavy menstrual bleeding as less cost-effective than alternatives.

Wisdom teeth extraction was often not worthwhile, because of a “close benefit and risk balance”, while some procedures, such as orthodontics, were nothing more than “potentially cosmetic”.

Some PCTs, of which there are about 150 in England, could save more than £12 million a year by reducing such operations, the soon-to-be-abolished spending watchdog calculated.

Andy McKeon, its managing director of health, said: “PCTs across the country are currently paying for treatments that cost the taxpayer money, and according to clinical experts have little or no real value to patients. This needs to change.”

The King’s Fund report – Variations in Health Care: the good, the bad and the inexplicable – found that tonsil removal operations in children were 10 times more common in Coventry than in Kingston, even though the procedure “has been queried since the 1930s”.

But it concentrated on lack of access to operations that did work.

For example, it found that rates of admission for hip and knee replacement varied by up to 400 per cent, with people in poorer areas much less likely to receive one.

Rates of coronary artery bypass grafts varied from 34 per 100,000 in Westminster to 197 per 100,000 in Berkshire.

John Appleby, chief economist at The King’s Fund, said: “This report confirms research over decades, both in the UK and internationally, which has shown persistent and unwarranted variations in use of and access to even the most common surgical procedures. This is unfair to patients and inefficient for the NHS.

“Remedying this is urgent given the need to improve quality of care while the NHS grapples with the biggest financial challenge in its history.”

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Tonsil-removals-and-other-ineffective-operations-cost-NHS-500m-a-year

The cost of NHS dentistry is prompting some patients to delay treatment or opt for cheaper care, a survey suggests.
The NHS Information Centre poll of more than 11,000 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland found a fifth had put off treatment over price.

The Adult Dental Health Survey, which is carried out every decade, also found a quarter said cost influenced the kind of treatment they opted for.

NHS dental care is subsidised, but patients still pay towards their care.

There are three price bands ranging form £16.50 for a basic check-up to £198 for complex procedures, including crowns.

Pregnant women, those on low incomes and children are exempt from paying.

As well as highlighting cost, more than one in 10 said extreme anxiety deterred them from the dentists, while a fifth cited dissatisfaction with previous treatments.

Of those surveyed, 58% said they had tried to make an NHS dental appointment over the past three years, of which 92% were successful. However, that does not mean the rest did not have dental treatment as some would have paid for private care.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12849853

Dentists are still encouraging patients to return for excessive appointments and follow-ups, putting income ahead of care, research suggests.Data gathered by the Conservatives shows dentists to be “gaming the system”.

The Tory analysis, based on figures for 2008-09, suggests that 6.8 million slots could have been made available to those without access to an NHS dentist had they not been used for excessive appointment-setting or needless splitting of courses of treatment into separate sessions.

The Tories calculate the cost to NHS patients of “unnecessary charges” at £117 million, up from £109 million the year before. The burden represents a fifth of the £572 million charged each year for treating NHS patients.

Andy Burnham, the outging Health Secretary, acknowledged last year that dentisty remained “unfinished business” after the failure of a new dentists’ contract to address problems with a so-called drill and fill culture.

An independent review ordered by the labour Government, led by Jimmy Steele, of Newcastle University, found that dentistry was too preoccupied with treatment rather than prevention, and that dentists should be paid according to the number of patients on their list and penalised for poor work that leads to repeated visits.

Professor Steele’s proposals, which were accepted by the Government and put into pilot schemes, include rewarding dentists for registering new patients and building relationships with existing ones. Income is determined by the size of the patient-list, quality of care and the number of courses of treatment.

Andrew Lansley, the Tory health spokesman, who acquired the figures from parliamentary questions in February, said that the lack of political drive to rectify problems with dentistry was shown by its absence from the manifestos of Labour and the Lib Dems.

From: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7115298.ece