Objective To examine how pricing policies were contrived in general dental practice in terms of fee-for-item and hourly rate and how these were affected by specialist status and the level of private care provided in a practice. Design A postal questionnaire. Subjects Members of the British Society for General Dental Surgery working in dental practice. Results Out of 160 eligible members, responses were received from 124 members (78%). Fifty-seven respondents claimed to specialise in one or more fields of dentistry. The majority of respondents consulted fellow colleagues or partners for advice on fee setting. A minority took external advice. The charging method varied according to the item of treatment with fee-for-item used predominantly for items such as a new patient examination, and hourly rate used more for items such as a direct composite restoration. Seventy-one respondents stated that their practice was 80-100% private treatment and these practitioners were significantly more likely to charge by hourly rate than fee-for-item for many items of treatment. Specialist status did not have any effect on charging method. The most important factors related to the setting of fees-for-item or hourly rate were clinical time spent, practice overheads and laboratory costs. Conclusions This project has taken the views of a large group of experienced general dental practitioners, many of whom work purely in the private sector. The most important factors affecting fee setting were clinical time, practice overheads and laboratory costs. The method of charging was most affected by the proportion of private treatment provided by the practice.General dental practitioners in the UK work either under the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) scheme, under private contract or a mixture of both. Under the NHS scheme, dentists are paid mainly according to a fee-for-item of service basis. Many

This was a cross-sectional study on oral health status of drug addicted patients admitted in a drug abuse treatment center in Dhaka city. This study was conducted at Mukti Mental Hospital, Drug & Alcohol Treatment Center situated at Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study was carried out among 50 drug addicts from the month of January to June 2012. Data were collected from the patients from 21st April to 5th May 2012. The main objective of the study was to assess and investigate the oral hygiene practice and oral health status of drug abusers. Fifty drug abusers irrespective of sex and age were interviewed & their oral health status was evaluated using the World Health Organization recommended procedures for Decayed, Missing, Filled teeth and the periodontal status. Data were collected with a pretested structured questionnaire and checklist.  Dental caries was found in 92% of the drug addicts, while Missing and Filled teeth were recorded 86% and 88% of the addicts respectively.  86% of the addicts demonstrated DMFT score 1 or Higher; whereas 14% of the addicts demonstrated DMFT score 0 or were free from any form of dental decay, missing teeth or dental filling and 74% of the drug addicts had gingival inflammation and bleeding from gum, 42% had some oral mucosal lesion like apthus ulcer and candidiasis. The number of Decayed, Missing or Filled teeth increased with less frequency of daily tooth brushing and this finding was significant (p<0.01). On the basis of these findings it was concluded that dental caries in drug addicts is a major health concern and creating awareness among the public about harmful effects of drugs on their oral health through plan and policy can reduce the burden of dental diseases. Moreover mass media and general education of the mass people can play a vital role. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjdre.v5i1.22452 Bangladesh Journal of Dental Research and Education Vol.5(1) 2015: 11-13