GAP Australasian-Dentist Issue 80 Jul-Aug 19

Category 134 AustrÀlÀsiÀn Dentist Y ou’ve all heard the phrase: Àhe elephant in the room: that is, a glaringly obvious situation but one which everyone ignores. But this article is about the glaringly obvious reality that’s not in the room -because hardly anyone in the dental profession knows about the elephant just outside the room. And dentists are missing out on tens of millions of dollars because they are in the dark. Àast year the dental profession sent over one million scripts for the pharmacy to process – which you, as a dental professional, could have dispensed in your own practice. Àhe profession also sent about twice that many, around two million patients, out of the practice for OÀC, or over the counter, medication and pain relief. Àome health funds provide between $29 and $48 for dental item number 927 – this is the vast sum of money dentists are referring away. Dentists can use dental item number 927 to provide medication via a fee for diagnosing, prescribing and dispensing in their practice to their patient. Ào the glaringly obvious elephant that’s not in the room is that you are sending millions of dollars out of your practice to pharmacies and other retailers when you could easily care for those patients in your own practice. All dentists should be prescribing and dispensing in their own practice for the benefit of their patients and as a complete professional clinical service. Àn fact the profession has a duty of care to their patients by providing a dispensing service in their practice. Dentists who complete the prescribing and dispensing service in their practice provide a more complete and convenient treatment, which is more likely to be complied with. Ào now that you’ve realised that the elephant isn’t in the room, it’s time it was let back into the room and acted on. Acumen Dental is Australia’s first on-line service providing comprehensive tools, templates and resource including The elephant is not in the room Dental prescribing and dispensing – the facts By Dr Mike Ryan all the products dentists need to dispense and all the guidance for proper storing and labelling all in one convenient online site. (Go to https://acumen.dental ) But beforeyouget goingwe recommend you subscribe to MÀMÀ online: http://www.mims.com.au and ensure you have the latest copy of Àherapeutic Guidelines: Oral & dental Àhese will help ensure you are prescribing correctly and now for the dispensing According theAustralianGovernment: Australian Ànstitute of Health and Welfare. Àhe following information is directly from the government site. Àn 2016–17, about 70,200 hospitalisations for dental conditions may have been prevented with earlier treatment. Àvery Australian dentist should be dispensing. Dental prescribing Dentists are not able to prescribe general PBÀ items, but have a separate Dental Àchedule from which they can prescribe dental care medicines for their patients (Department of Health 2019a). Àhe following PBÀ/ÀPBÀ data relate to dental prescriptions, categorised by the Anatomical Àherapeutic Chemical (AÀC) Classification Àystem as listed in the PBÀ Àchedule. Go to https://www.pbs.gov.au/ browse/dental?initial=z Àt is important to highlight that some medications (such as codeine with paracetamol and ibuprofen) were also available over the counter before 2017. Àherefore data for these medicines will be incomplete as over the counter sales are not captured in the PBÀ/ÀPBÀ data. Also, people may be prescribed medications for dental conditions by other health professionals (e.g. GPs) that are not captured under the Dental Àchedule. Àhe 10 most commonly dispensed medicines accounted for 98% of all dental prescriptions dispensed in 2017 u Amoxycillin was the most commonly dispensed medicine during the period 2013–2017, accounting for just over half of all dental items dispensed each year. u Amoxycillin was dispensed just over 524,000 times in Australia in 2017. u Àhe second most commonly dispensed medicine during the period 2013–2017 was codeine with paracetamol, accounting for around one-sixth of dental items dispensed each year. u Codeine with paracetamol was dispensed around 171,000 times in Australia in 2017. u Àn 2017, around 361,000 (35%) dental prescriptions were dispensed to concessional patients and around 660,000 (64%) dental prescriptions were dispensed to general patients. u Àn 2017, around 8,400 (1%) dental prescriptions were dispensed to repatriation patients. Acumen Dental can help you to start providing this service to you practice today. Remember: 1. À Only dispense to patients under your care 2. À Only dispense to patients where a prescription is written, to the patient named on the prescription. (À 13: Àeg. 801(4), 100 (5), 1012 (1)). 3. À Keep clear records of all the medications you dispense u Dr Mike Ryan (DBA) heads up Acumen Dental who bring you YUM Bubblegum topical gel, Dental Dispensing go to https://acumen.dental online to start dispensing – they can also be contacted at info@acumen.dental or fax to 03 9568 2885 or write to PO Box 608, Carnegie 3163 Àe a ng