Dentists Hit Back Against Claims Of Malpractice
Dentists have hit back against claims of malpractice with the publication of the results of a survey, which suggest that four out of five patients are happy with their dentist.
In May this year the Office of Fair Trading called for an urgent investigation into dental prices after hundreds of dentists were accused of misleading patients into paying for private treatment when the same treatment was available for a much owe price on the NHS. A SimplyHealth survey released shortly after the OFT statement also claimed that patients were not being given sufficient information to make well-informed decisions about dental treatment.
In response to the allegations, the British Dental Association has recently published the results of a patient satisfaction survey, which suggests that 80 per cent of patients are very happy with the treatment they receive from their dentist. Of more than 1000 people surveyed, almost 4 in 5 said that they were happy or very happy with explanations about the cost of treatments and more than three quarters of participants said that their treatment was good or very good value for money.
Four out of five participants had visited their dentist within the last 24 months, while 1 in 15 people said that they never visited a dentist. More than half of patients were familiar with their dentist’s complaints procedure; however, only 1 per cent of patients surveyed had made a complaint within the last two years.
Dr Martin Fallowfield, chair of the BDA’s Principal Executive Committee, said that the results should be reassuring to dentists but warned against complacency.
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