Denplan Excel for Children
The following section outlines the specific tools that you and your practice will receive once you are accredited on the
Denplan Excel for Children Programme.
As well as the components you receive when joining the Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme; Denplan Quality Programme,
Business Development Patient Survey and Patient Information, you will have access to the following additional tools specifically
focused on children's oral healthcare.
These tools have been developed with leading international paediatric dental specialists and are designed for you, your
younger patients and their parents.
Oral Health Score for Children©
The children's version of the Oral Heath Score for Children© is also an innovative methodology for reviewing the oral
health of your younger patient's teeth and mouth, giving you a consistent base against which you can measure the effectiveness
of your care over time.
The system acts as a prompt for you to undertake a defined assessment of your younger patients' mouths. The oral assessment
looks at eight factors:
- active caries
- oral cleanliness
- gingival health
- erosion
- trauma
- malocclusion
- aesthetics
- sepsis.
These factors are weighted in three bands according to the younger patients' age:
- 0 to 5 years
- 6 to 11 years
- 12 to 18 years.
Denplan provides you with special Oral Health Score for Children© training and specific materials when you
join the programme.
Oral Wellbeing Score for Children©
As well as clinical data, the Oral Health Score for Children© is complemented with an Oral Wellbeing Score
for Children©. It focuses on your younger patients' or their parents' perceptions of their oral health
and their willingness to adopt good oral health behaviours.
The Oral Wellbeing Score for Children© is completed by the patient and / or the parent, depending on their
age, in reception before their appointment with the dentist.
The system acts as a prompt for patients and/or their parents to really think about how they feel about their oral healthcare.
It is included on the same sheet as the Oral Health Score for Children© and looks at four factors:
- dental anxiety
- dental health awareness
- dental health quality of life
- dental health confidence.
The Oral Wellbeing Score for Children© follows the same age bands as the Oral Health Score for Children©:
- 0 to 5 years
- 6 to 11 years
- 12 to 18 years.
The Oral Wellbeing Score for Children© and the Oral Health Score for Children© can be easily communicated
to the parent and / or the child patient in a way that can be easily understood and therefore hold meaning, helping the
communication process.
Benefits for your practice
- provides demonstrable differences between previous NHS child oral care and private child oral care
- provides a powerful tool for helping younger patients understand and value their care
- provides a consistent approach to patient examinations, improving accuracy over time 12
- simplifies monitoring and audit of individual patients, or groups of patients, allowing you to assess the effectiveness
of the care provided
- improves relationships with your younger patients through better communication and greater involvement in their oral
health.
Benefits for your patients
- focuses on more factors than solely the presence, or absence of caries
- enhances understanding of the examination process and its objectives
- motivates patients to maintain and improve their oral health over time
- makes younger patients and their parents feel more consulted and involved in deciding on care and treatments that
meet their needs and fulfill their desires
- improves the younger patients' relationship with you through better communication and greater involvement in
their oral health.