{"id":4440,"date":"2022-05-03T11:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/specialcaredentistry\/"},"modified":"2023-08-29T15:02:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T14:02:42","slug":"specialcaredentistry","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/dentistryoralhealthservice\/specialcaredentistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Care Dentistry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<title>Special Care Dentistry<\/title>\n\n\n\n<p>\u200b<strong>Information <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Special Care Dentistry is concerned with: <em>&#8220;The improvement of oral health of individuals and groups in society who have a physical, sensory, intellectual, mental, medical, emotional, or social impairment or disability or, more often, a combination of a number of these factors&#8221;<\/em> (Joint Advisory Committee for Special Care Dentistry, 2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of the Oral Health Service (OHS), the Special Care Dentistry service provides Special Care Dentistry for adults (16 years and over) resident within NHS Lothian.&nbsp; Our service can offer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Advice<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Assessment and treatment planning for the referrer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Treatment on referral; either a &#8216;one-off&#8217; course of treatment or a &#8216;shared&#8217; or &#8216;continuing care&#8217; arrangement. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients meeting our acceptance criteria are allocated to clinics based on geographical proximity and \/ or special care needs.&nbsp; Locations include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>NHS Lothian hospitals (acute and non-acute)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Community dental clinics \/ health centres<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Drop-in clinics in specific facilities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Domiciliary settings (please note that referrals are only accepted for those with severe or significant special care needs and that very limited care can be provided in this way) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Treatment is provided under General Dental Service (GDS) terms and conditions with strict adherence to the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are unable to provide: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Private treatment options<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We are unable to routinely provide: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cosmetic dentistry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Molar endodontics or fixed prosthodontics under conscious sedation or general anaesthesia. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hygiene therapy in isolation under conscious sedation or general anaesthesia. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>NHS fees apply to all dental treatment unless the patient is <span style=\"text-decoration:underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhsinform.scot\/care-support-and-rights\/health-rights\/access\/help-with-health-costs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entitled to free dental treatment<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who can refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Referrals to Special Care Dentistry are accepted from primary and secondary health and social care professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Special Care Dentistry service accepts referrals for adults from the following priority groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patients with&nbsp;<strong>severe<\/strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>significant<\/strong>&nbsp;special care need(s) in one or more of the following categories:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Physical impairment or disability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sensory impairment or disability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intellectual impairment or disability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mental impairment or disability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medical impairment or disability (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asahq.org\/resources\/clinical-information\/asa-physical-status-classification-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ASA classification<\/a>&nbsp;III, IV and V)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Emotional impairment or disability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Social impairment or disability<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients whose care cannot reasonably be delivered in a GDS setting as follows:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patients who require a multidisciplinary approach between medical and dental teams to facilitate safe dental care.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients registered with the &#8216;Edinburgh Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre&#8217; who require haematological cover to be provided for dental treatment (e.g. extractions, minor oral surgery, inferior dental block (IDB) or lingual local anaesthesia).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with an impairment or disability that cannot be overcome by the use of accessible physical aids.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients whose complexity necessitates domiciliary care that can only be fulfilled by the skills \/ facilities of the OHS.&nbsp; For patients registered and referred by their General Dental Practitioner (GDP), a contemporaneous oral health assessment must be carried out prior to referral.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients whose weight exceeds the safe working limit of the referrer&#8217;s dental chair.&nbsp; Bariatric dental care facilities are located at St John&#8217;s Hospital and Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre.&nbsp; Please note, for patients over 31 stone (200kg), care can only be provided at St John&#8217;s Hospital.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with significant communication difficulties.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients whose impairment or disability is a barrier to accessing GDS care (e.g. those who are homeless or have drug dependency issues).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who not to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Special Care Dentistry service will not accept referrals for the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patients with lesions in their mouth considered\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/publications\/scottish-referral-guidelines-suspected-cancer-january-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>&#8216;urgent suspicion of cancer&#8217;<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Referral should be made directly to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/oralmaxillofacialsurgery\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/oralmaxillofacialsurgery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oral &amp; Maxillofacial Surgery<\/a>\u00a0service at St John&#8217;s Hospital using the specific SCI Gateway.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patients with mild or moderate special care need(s) whose care can be reasonably delivered in a GDS setting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Registered GDS patients requiring domiciliary care\u00a0<strong>unless<\/strong>:\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the complexity of the patient \/ treatment necessitates the skills \/ facilities of the OHS,&nbsp;<strong>and<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a contemporaneous oral health assessment has been carried out by the referring dental practitioner.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients who are at low risk of&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdcep.org.uk\/published-guidance\/medication-related-osteonecrosis-of-the-jaw\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Medication-related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (MRONJ)<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients taking&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdcep.org.uk\/published-guidance\/anticoagulants-and-antiplatelets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs<\/a>&nbsp;whose INR is maintained below 4 and have no other relevant medical complications.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adults whose dental anxiety necessitates behavioural \/ pharmacological management beyond that provided in the GDS.\u00a0 Referral should be made to the\u00a0<a href=\"\/refhelp\/guidelines\/AdultDentalAnxietyManagementService\">&#8216;<\/a><a href=\"\/refhelp\/guidelines\/AdultDentalAnxietyManagementService\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Adult Dental Anxiety Management Service<\/a><a href=\"\/refhelp\/guidelines\/AdultDentalAnxietyManagementService\">&#8216;\u00a0<\/a>via SCI Gateway.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients under the age of 16 years with special care need(s) or dental anxiety.\u00a0 Referral should be made to\u00a0<a href=\"\/refhelp\/guidelines\/PaediatricDentistryRoutine\">&#8216;<\/a><a href=\"\/refhelp\/guidelines\/PaediatricDentistryRoutine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paediatric Dentistry<\/a><a href=\"\/refhelp\/guidelines\/PaediatricDentistryRoutine\">&#8216;\u00a0<\/a>via SCI Gateway.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients resident outwith the boundaries of NHS Lothian (applies to primary health and social care referrals).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Referrals to Special Care Dentistry are accepted from primary and secondary health and social care professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>GDPs providing NHS dentistry<strong>&nbsp;must&nbsp;<\/strong>refer to Special Care Dentistry via SCI Gateway.&nbsp; Any other route of referral will be rejected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you are a primary \/ secondary care health or social care professional without access to SCI Gateway, please download, complete and send the\u00a0<a href=\"\/files\/sites\/2\/Oral-Health-Service-referral-form.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">referral form.<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Please note that the<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>secure transmission of emails containing patient information is the referrer&#8217;s responsibility<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Referrals should be completed as fully as possible, with poorly completed forms rejected.&nbsp; Relevant radiographs \/ images should be included in your referral.&nbsp; These can be sent as an &#8216;attachment&#8217; in SCI Gateway (maximum file size of 2MB, with a total attachment capacity of 5MB).&nbsp; If you are not registered with SCI Gateway, have images exceeding the file size or have relevant non digital images, please use an alternative option for the&nbsp;<a href=\"\/files\/sites\/2\/Quick-reference-guide-for-Transfer-of-Images-to-the-Oral-Health-Service.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">transfer of images<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Discharge criteria:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients will be discharged from the care of the Special Care Dentistry service for the following reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Their care can be reasonably delivered in a GDS setting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They have completed a course of treatment under conscious sedation or general anaesthesia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They fail to attend or repeatedly cancel their appointments at short notice.&nbsp; The referrer will be duly informed.&nbsp; For patients still wishing to be treated by the Special Care Dentistry service, a new referral will be necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www1.wfh.org\/publication\/files\/pdf-1190.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Guidelines for dental treatment of patients with inherited bleeding disorders (World Federation of Hemophilia)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdcep.org.uk\/published-guidance\/anticoagulants-and-antiplatelets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Management of Dental Patients taking Anticoagulants or Antiplatelet Drugs (SDCEP)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdcep.org.uk\/published-guidance\/medication-related-osteonecrosis-of-the-jaw\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oral Health Management of Patients at Risk of Medication-related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (SDCEP)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdcep.org.uk\/published-guidance\/bisphosphonates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oral Health Management of Patients Prescribed Bisphosphonates (SDCEP)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdcep.org.uk\/published-guidance\/sedation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Conscious Sedation in Dentistry (SDCEP)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bsdh.org\/index.php\/component\/edocman\/the-oral-management-of-oncology-patients-requiring-radiotherapy-chemotherapy-and-or-bone-marrow-transplantation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Oral Management of Oncology Patients Requiring Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy or Bone Marrow Transplantation (BSDH)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bsdh.org\/documents\/pBSDH_Clinical_Guidelines_PwaLD_2012.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clinical Guidelines and Integrated Care Pathways for the Oral Health Care of People with Learning Disabilities (BSDH)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cgdent.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Dementia-friendly-dentistry-final-for-web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dementia-Friendly Dentistry (FGDP)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Special Care Dentistry &#8203;Information Special Care Dentistry is concerned with: &ldquo;The improvement of oral health of individuals and groups in society who have a physical, sensory, intellectual, mental, medical, emotional, or social impairment or disability or, more often, a combination of a number of these factors&rdquo; (Joint Advisory Committee for Special Care Dentistry, 2003). As<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3839,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"class_list":["post-4440","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-special-care-dentistry"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/dentistry-oral-health-service\/special-care-dentistry\/\" rel=\"tag\">Special Care Dentistry<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Special Care Dentistry &#8203;Information Special Care Dentistry is concerned with: &ldquo;The improvement of oral health of individuals and groups in society who have a physical, sensory, intellectual, mental, medical, emotional, or social impairment or disability or, more often, a combination of a number of these factors&rdquo; (Joint Advisory Committee for Special Care Dentistry, 2003). 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