Clinical record keeping by general dental practitioners piloting the Denplan 'Excel' Accreditation Programme

Background Denplan is a private capitation-based system of providing primar y dental care in the UK. An additional programme called Denplan Excel has b een developed which requires General Dental Practitioners to instigate vari ous quality processes within their practices in order to become accredited. Clinical record keeping is one area where standards are monitored. This st udy reports changes in record keeping at patient recall appointments follow ing the implementation of the Denplan Excel programme. Method Fifty dentists participating in the Denplan Excel pilot programme fr om different areas of the UK were sampled by means of cluster sampling. Twe nty records for each dentist were sampled and items recorded for patients r ecalled both pre- and post-pilot were compared. Results The majority of dentists recorded presenting complaint, diagnosis a nd treatment plan both pre- and post-pilot. However, post-pilot there were a number of improvements in record keeping. Caries recorded on a grid incre ased from 7% of records to 46%, basic periodontal examination increased fro m 48% to 85% of records and the updating of medical history increased from 51% to 65% of records. These findings were all significant at the p < 0.01 level. Conclusion Changes can be achieved by voluntary participation in a system o f structured record keeping.