Dental care delivered 12 times faster thanks to new virtual clinics

Patients have had their waiting time for dental care cut from 6 months to 2 weeks thanks to a pilot project funded by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity.

Guy’s Dental Hospital have implemented virtual advice and guidance clinics which allow local dentists to access advice about their patients directly from a hospital consultant. This reduces the need for patients to make costly trips to London, and keeps their care closer to home.

The team of healthcare professionals identify the best treatment plan for each individual. Patients with simpler conditions receive their care faster at their local dentist or hospital, while more complex cases are treated at Guy’s Hospital, with reduced waiting times. Patients also receive bespoke oral health advice, including on how to quit smoking, from a clinical nurse specialist.

This is an example of truly patient-centred care. We have been able to reduce stressful commutes and hospital visits for patients and their carers, whilst caring for more patients across south east England.

So far, over 200 patients in east and south east England have been treated through this pilot programme. In addition to receiving faster dental care, this new way of working has saved these patients, their families and carers over 4,000 miles of travel, including journeys made by hospital transport teams. It has also reduced the rate of patients missing appointments.  

Patients who were born with missing adult teeth, known as hypodontia, have received orthodontic care up to 7 times faster under this new scheme. Around 6 in 10 hypodontia patients, the majority of whom are teenagers, were seen within 2 weeks, compared with the usual 8-15 week wait. They also benefited from accessing the latest technologies, including 3D printing, without having to physically visit the hospital. 

The flexibility of appointments allows more patients who had previously been underserved to access NHS care when they need it. The proof-of-concept study found that despite having a higher prevalence of preventable dental conditions, patients from ethnic minority backgrounds were less likely to be able to travel into hospital to receive their care.

Enabling patients to attend appointments locally has therefore been shown to improve the number of patients from ethnic minority backgrounds accessing dental services. In a traditional clinic setting only 44 in 100 patients were from these backgrounds, whereas with virtual clinics this increased to 58 in 100.

This model, shared in the British Dental Journal, is the first published example of advice and guidance clinics in dentistry. The team are now sharing their work with other hospitals in London, and the Association of Dental Hospitals, so that other patients across the UK can benefit.

The 2-year pilot was made possible thanks to a £237,000 grant from Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity. They support the exceptional care at the Trust by funding innovative approaches, like the advice and guidance clinics, to help ensure patients can access NHS care when they need it.

Poonam Kalsi, co-lead of the project and clinical director of Guy’s Dental Hospital, said: “These clinics are common in medicine, but there hasn’t yet been anything formalised and funded for dentistry. With this model, we are able to ensure that patients are seen at the right time, by the right clinician.”

Jose Rodriguez, co-lead of the project and consultant in restorative dentistry, said: “This is an example of truly patient-centred care. We have been able to reduce stressful commutes and hospital visits for patients and their carers, whilst caring for more patients across south east England.

“It’s also better for the environment. It’s completely electronic and reduces patient travel.”

Ruth Taylor, interim director of funding and impact for Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, added: “We invest in the exceptional teams at Guy’s and St Thomas’ to help them to deliver better, faster and fairer services to NHS patients, not only in London but across the UK.”

To read the review in the British Dental Journal click here.