British dental journal
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British dental journal · May 2011
ReviewDelivering alcohol screening and alcohol brief interventions within general dental practice: rationale and overview of the evidence.
Alcohol consumption and affordability in the UK has increased over the last 50 years and is associated with a range of adverse oral health outcomes, the most serious of which, oral cancer, is also increasing in incidence. Despite this, routine screening and intervention relating to alcohol consumption within general dental practice remains uncommon. This review of the literature describes the background and outlines the evidence base for undertaking alcohol screening and delivering brief interventions in general dental practice. Consideration will be given to the rationale for, and range of issues related to, introducing this into general dental practice.
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Registered dental practices must achieve all the essential standards of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), whose outcome 9 is focused entirely on the way practices manage medicines. Experience with specialist dental services and other healthcare professions shows that focused assessments with a CQC-experienced pharmacist can deliver quality patient outcomes from safe and effective medicines use, and improve service efficiency, even when resources are limited. Assessments, either online or on-site, can identify areas for improvement in a practice's current medicines management activity and are an efficient way of achieving effective, safe and legal CQC-compliant activity. The provision of training and CPD sessions, and the joint development of robust governance arrangements and supporting documents including Patient Group Directions (PGDs) and protocols, help to embed activities within everyday practice and provide opportunities for staff development.
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Child abuse, child maltreatment, non-accidental injury and child homicide: all terms that are hard to believe exist in the 21st civilised century, but non-accidental injury of children is a major problem, crossing all socioeconomic, ethnic and educational groups, and is happening all over the world. Available statistics on child abuse and deaths related to abuse are frightening, and as many cases are not reported, actual numbers are likely to be much higher. ⋯ In child abuse cases physical injuries to the head and facial area are common while other types of abuse are less visible but are damaging to a vulnerable child in other ways. Keeping children safe is a shared responsibility and a top priority for all of us.