Dental recall

The NICE dental recall clinical guideline helps clinicians assign recall intervals between oral health reviews that are appropriate to the needs of individual patients. The recommendations apply to patients of all ages (both dentate and edentulous) receiving primary care from NHS dental staff in Eng ...

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The NICE dental recall clinical guideline helps clinicians assign recall intervals between oral health reviews that are appropriate to the needs of individual patients. The recommendations apply to patients of all ages (both dentate and edentulous) receiving primary care from NHS dental staff in England and Wales. The guideline takes into account the potential of the patient and the dental team to improve or maintain the patient’s quality of life and to reduce morbidity associated with oral and dental disease.

The recommendations take account of the impact of dental checks on: patients’ well-being, general health and preventive habits; caries incidence and avoiding restorations; periodontal health and avoiding tooth loss; and avoiding pain and anxiety.

This guideline does not cover:

• recall intervals for scale and polish treatments
• the prescription and timing of dental radiographs
• intervals between examinations that are not routine dental recalls; that is, intervals between examinations relating to ongoing courses of treatment
• emergency dental interventions or intervals between episodes of specialist care

Responsibility for undertaking a review of this guidance at the designated review date has passed to the National Clinical Guidelines Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions (NCGCACC). The National Collaborating Centre for Acute Care is no longer active.

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