Dental Quality Improvement

The Scottish NHS Dental Quality Improvement (QI) project for 2025–2026 focuses on understanding patients’ perceptions of enhanced preventive care, specifically treatment delivered under Item 2A of the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR). This project is part of a wider programme of mandatory QI activities that all NHS dental contractors in Scotland must complete as part of their contractual and professional development requirements.

Item 2A refers to “Enhanced Preventive Advice and Treatment”, which reflects the Scottish Government’s shift toward a prevention-focused model of dental care. Rather than prioritising treatment of disease alone, the system now emphasises helping patients avoid dental problems through early intervention, education, and behaviour change. Care provided under 2A can include oral hygiene instruction, dietary advice (particularly around sugar intake), smoking cessation guidance, fluoride applications, and periodontal maintenance such as scaling where appropriate.

The central aim of this QI project is to evaluate how effectively this preventive care is being delivered from the patient’s perspective. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether patients understand the advice given, feel it is relevant and personalised to them, and are motivated to act on it. By focusing on patient feedback, the project aligns with the broader goal of delivering person-centred, value-based healthcare.

To complete the project, dental practices are required to undertake two main activities. First, they must collect patient feedback using a structured questionnaire. This is given to patients who have received 2A care and asks about their experience, including clarity of communication, usefulness of advice, and overall satisfaction. The questionnaire is designed to capture both quantitative and qualitative data, allowing practices to identify trends and areas for improvement.

Second, the dental team must engage in structured reflection based on the collected feedback. This involves reviewing the results together, discussing what is working well, and identifying opportunities to improve how preventive care is delivered. Teams are encouraged to consider changes such as improving communication techniques, tailoring advice more effectively, or enhancing patient engagement strategies.

Following this reflection, practices must produce a written report summarising their findings and outlining any proposed or implemented improvements. This report serves as evidence of participation in the QI activity and is required to claim the associated QI allowance payment.

The project is designed to take approximately five hours to complete and forms part of a three-year QI cycle, with each year focusing on a different theme related to improving patient care. The 2025–2026 project represents the first year of this cycle.

Overall, this QI initiative supports the ongoing transformation of NHS dentistry in Scotland by reinforcing the importance of prevention, encouraging continuous improvement, and ensuring that patient voices play a central role in shaping care delivery.

Reference:

National Services Scotland (2026) Quality improvement (QI). Available at: https://www.nss.nhs.scot/dental-services/allowances-and-payments/quality-improvement-qi/ (Accessed: 25 April 2026).

Image by Kaboompics on Pexels.com