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	Tuesday 23rd February 2010 Scotland to go ahead with lifelong registration Scotland is to go ahead with lifelong registration â€“ a scheme which means patients will no longer have to visit their dentist to remain registered with them. From the beginning of April, the Scottish government will proceed with regulatory changes to introduce continuous registration. The British Dental Association (BDA) has expressed its 'disappointment' at the decision, which it said could harm patient care as it does not encourage a pattern of regular attendance and is therefore not conducive to maintaining oral health. Dr Robert Kinloch, chair of the BDA's Scottish Dental Practice Committee, criticised the move and said: "Continuous registration sends all the wrong signals about the value of patients visiting their dentist regularly. It encourages neglect of personal oral health, undermines modern, preventive approaches to care and devalues the relationship between clinician and patient. "It also removes the responsibility of patients to comply with recall intervals advised by their dentist. Scotland already faces unenviable rates of oral cancers. The fear among dentists is that more cases will now go undetected." He called for the government to 'work very hard to promote regular attendance to patients and ensure that the efforts of the profession in encouraging patients to visit them regularly are not undone'. He added: "In the short-term, dentists must be provided with the information they need about individuals who have not been seen in practice for the last three years to allow them to make a decision about whether the continued registration of those patients will affect the ability of the practice to care for its regularly-attending patients." Last year, the BDA carried out a survey of general dental practitioners from across Scotland, and found that 87 per cent were opposed to the introduction of continuous registration. Dentists expressed concern that the scheme would undermine the importance of regular check-ups, fail to promote a strong dentist-patient relationship, and increase the chances of serious conditions such as mouth cancer going undetected. Concerns were also expressed about the strain on NHS services that would be caused by patients who chose to attend less regularly as irregular attendance often results in more complex and time-consuming treatment being required. Catering for a greater number of emergency appointments would also increase waiting times for patients attending regular appointments. The Scottish Government Health Directorates' (SGHD) intention to introduce continuous registration stems from the Dental Action Plan developed by the previous administration. The Scottish government's policy approach is that there should be no automatic ending of registration after a given period of time and believes that continuous registration will help develop a more stable relationship between a dentist and a patient. SGHD cites that this fits with the need to plan care on a long-term basis and to monitor oral health over time. With the new arrangements imminent, the BDA has called on SGHD to ensure that practitioners are provided with detailed information as a matter of urgency, so that practices can plan now for the change in registration arrangements. This information should include a list of all patients for whom the continuing care and capitation fees are due to drop to 20 per cent on 1 April, due to the fact that they have not attended in three years.