Recall Matters – appropriate dental recall intervals for people with good oral health

Summary

The Recall Matters campaign brought together a number of partners to test a new approach to free up NHS dental appointments for people without a dentist. Launched in August 2018 with other local Healthwatch in West Yorkshire, the pilot project covered general dental practices and patients in West Yorkshire and was supported by the Chief Dental Officer for England, NHS England, Public Health England and the British Dental Association. We raised public awareness that people with healthy teeth could be having longer dental check-up intervals to allow practices to take on new patients.

Key findings

• Many dentists advocate a major programme of oral health improvement that informs and engages patients and supports them to take responsibility for their oral health. (This approach has been incorporated into the piloting and prototyping of a new dental contract for NHS England).
• The complexity of the system and limited time frame meant that simple interventions relating to recall and re-attendance were, by themselves, unlikely to have a significant impact on capacity and access