Impact Case Study Summaries
Case Study 1 - Decontamination
Transforming Instrument Decontamination in Dental Practice
Patients expect and deserve safe health care, but research by the University of Glasgow Dental School in 2000-2005 identified that routine instrument decontamination processes used in UK dental practice were inadequate, with potential for residual body fluid and tissue contamination, leaving patients at risk of infection. These studies led to major changes to decontamination guidance and its implementation, resulting in major 
improvements to decontamination facilities, procedures and quality assurance in UK dental practice. In Scotland, £19 million in government funding was used to upgrade equipment and premises, develop updated guidance and to train 7,893 dental staff through NHS Education Scotland (NES). By December 2012, it was mandatory for all Scottish dental practices to comply with the new standards (‘Glennie compliance’) to reduce the risk of cross-infection with blood- and tissue-borne diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).
The research fed into guidance documents issued by the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme.
Case Study 2 - Childsmile
Childsmile Transforms Child Dental Health
University of Glasgow researchers have played a pivotal role in developing and evaluating the pioneering Childsmile oral health improvement programme. By the late 1990s, more than 50% of 5-year-olds in Scotland showed evidence of dental decay. Since implementation of Childsmile in 2006, this has decreased to 33% and, within this population dental decay in children from the most severely deprived backgrounds has experienced a striking reduction (from 79% to 55%). In 2011, Childsmile was formally incorporated into the primary care dental contract and subsequently in 2012, into the universal child health surveillance programme in Scotland. Since its introduction Childsmile’s community-based, preventive approach has revolutionised dental healthcare from birth for all children up to 12 years of age in Scotland resulting in delivery of Childsmile to over 730,000 children per year.
This press release details savings of £6 million to the cost of children's dental treatment as a part of his study. Nursery toothbrushing reduces decay