Introduction

From April 1st 2006 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) have been responsible for reviewing the oral health needs of their population and commissioning services to meet these needs. With the advent of the Dentist with Special Interest (DwSIs) scheme, PCTs have additional flexibility to commision NHS dental services of a more specialist nature within a primary care setting that are directly in line with the needs of their local communities.

DwSIs provides an opportunity for dentists to gain recognition and accreditation for additional competencies gained through either training or experience. Providing special interest work within the NHS as part of the contractual agreement with their PCTs not only reduces the pressure on secondary care resources and frees secondary care consultants for more complex work, but widens the choice of treatments available to patients in terms of the nature and location of their NHS dental care.

The scheme launches with four key comptencies - Orthodontics, Minor Oral Surgery , Endodontics, and Periodontics. Additional competencies are due to follow.

Health professionals in other sectors already have similar special interest schemes in place enabling them to provide more specilaist care,whilst still working in a primary care setting.