Journal of Disability and Oral Health
- Cover Date:
- March 2011
- Print ISSN:
- 1470-8558
- Vol:
- 12
- Issue:
- 1
An overview of the provision of oral health care for patients with oncological disease attending salaried primary dental care services in England
Aim: Malignancy remains a significant health care burden. The oral cavity is often adversely affected by the consequences of malignant disease and its treatment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that patients with oncological disease tend to be referred to Salaried Dental Services after completion of oncological care, and there may be little liasion with multidisciplinary oncology teams. The present study sought to determine if there was a national variation in the level of service provision for patients with oncological disease referred to the Salaried Dental Services in England. Method: A questionnaire-based study was designed to determine the experiences of managers of Salaried Dental Services in England with respect to the provision of dental care for patients with malignant disease. Results: Seventy-five percent (83/111) of surveyed service managers completed the questionnaire. 98% (82/83) of these service managers did not receive any additional funding to provide dental care for patients with oncological disease, yet 84% (70/83) of those who responded provided oral health care for patients with malignancy within their service. Of the 13 responding managers whose service did not provide oral health care for patients with malignancy, 54% (7/13) were unaware of any other potential provider of oral health care in their area. Conclusions: There would appear to be considerable national variation in dental service provision among Salaried Dental Services for patients with malignant disease. There is an almost universal lack of funding to provide dental services for these patients and there is a lack of any distinct care pathway to provide oral care for patients with oncological disease
Key words: Malignancy, oral health, salaried dental services
- Article Price
- £15.00
- Institution Article Price
- £
- Page Start
- 10
- Page End
- 16
- Authors
- D A Wright, S R Porter, N Kumar, D R Moles
Articles from this issue
- Title
- Pg. Start
- Pg. End
- An overview of the provision of oral health care for patients with oncological disease attending salaried primary dental care services in England
- 10
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- Occurrence of hypodontia, supernumerary teeth and dental anomalies in Brazilian individuals with Down syndrome
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- The dental management of an albino adolescent with an undetected bleeding disorder: a case report
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