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Wimpole Timings study

British Dental Journal (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction Studies show that changes to dental incentive structures and treatment timings impact behaviour among UK general dental practitioners (GDP). Since 1980, the British Dental Association (BDA) has conducted panel inquiries to understand the time taken to complete dental treatments, the most recent of these being the 1999 Heathrow Timings study.

Aims Given significant changes to the UK general dental service (GDS) since 1999, this research aims to gain a refreshed understanding of the time involved to complete clinical treatments in the UK and gain insight into working hours.

Materials and methods This study adopted a mixed-method research design, adapted from the BDA's Heathrow Timings study. Averages for 34 adult and 12 children's treatments were found using an online survey and group discussion with 15 GDPs.

Results Overall, GDPs worked 35.23 hours per week, at an hourly rate of £39.94. Comparison to the Heathrow study in 1999 shows an increase in time to deliver multiple treatments, including clinical examinations, root canals, extractions, composite fillings, porcelain veneers, acrylic full dentures and children's extractions.

Conclusion Overall, this study provides a current and updated insight into dental treatment times performed by GDPs in the UK and highlights a decrease in working hours and real-term earnings of GDPs over the past 20 years.

Key points

  • Provides a current and updated insight into the timings of dental treatments conducted by general dental practitioners in the UK.

  • Highlights the increased time to deliver multiple treatments currently compared to data reported in 1999 from the Heathrow Timings study.

  • Shows differences in working hours, including non-clinical/clinical hours and real-term earnings of general dental practitioners over the last 20 years.

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Data availability

Data can be provided by the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to the BDA Trust and the Shirley Glasstone Hughes Trust for funding this research, and all of those who participated.

Funding

BDA Trust, Shirley Glasstone Hughes Trust [Buckland, Barnett, King, Pabary].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Dental Association, Policy and Research, 64 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8YS, UK

    Ryan Barnett, Ella Buckland & Tom King

  2. GDP and GDPC Vice Chair, British Dental Association, 64 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8YS, UK

    Shiv Pabary

Authors
  1. Ryan Barnett
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  2. Ella Buckland
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  4. Shiv Pabary
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Contributions

Overall, Ryan Barnett and Ella Buckland lead the project and contributed fully in equal parts. Ryan Barnett, Ella Buckland, Tom King, and Shiv Pabary contributed to the conception and design of the overall study. Ryan Barnett and Ella Buckland conducted the surveys, facilitated discussions, conducted subsequent analysis and drafted the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ella Buckland.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

The Wimpole Timings study was reviewed using the Health Research Authority Decision Tool, which indicated the study did not require NHS Research Ethics Committee review. The answers provided to the questions within the tool indicated that NHS ethics approval was not needed, and therefore exempt. The Health Research Authority Decision Tool form for this study is available, subject to request. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant and they were given the opportunity to withdraw their data at any point. Participation was voluntary and all data was anonymised.

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Barnett, R., Buckland, E., King, T. et al. Wimpole Timings study. Br Dent J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-024-7521-6

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