Atlas Healthcare Malta is to launch Denplan, a UK dental insurance scheme, in the near future. This type of insurance will be the first of its kind in Malta.
Catherine Calleja, managing director of Atlas Healthcare said that the company was very excited about Denplan as it encourages good oral health and both the dentist and the patient will have an incentive to prevent problems from occurring. The aim of the dental insurance scheme, she said, is to focus on preventive treatment to stop dental problems before they start.
“Denplan Ltd is owned by AXA PPP Healthcare Limited and it seemed logical to introduce dental payment plans and insurance through Denplan for Atlas Healthcare which is the local agent for AXA PPP,” Ms Calleja said.
Denplan in the UK has 6,500 member dentists and 1.6 million patients on payment plans as well as 1,700 corporate insurance schemes. It has recently also been launched in Ireland and Poland.
Denplan was started in the UK by two dental practitioners in 1986. They had a vision of dental practice in which the interests of the dentist and the patient were aligned: to help and encourage the provision of high quality preventive oral care through a regular, affordable payment.
Denplan was set up as a payment plan whereby the patient is assessed by a Denplan dentist and offered a fixed fee for whatever routine and restorative care is required. It also includes an insurance against dental accident and overseas emergency as well as mouth cancer cover and an overseas helpline.
Alongside the dentist-based plans (Denplan Care), Atlas will also be offereing corporate dental insurance for employees of companies in Malta.
Denplan will encourage the move from surgical dentistry (extractions and dentures) and restorative dentistry (fillings, crowns, bridges and implants) to preventive dentistry – the more ‘ethical’ and forward looking approach where patients see their dentist regularly in order to improve oral health, minimise intervention and ensure their oral health remains at the optimum level in order to avoid costly and painful interventions.
“Sadly, too many patients in Malta only visit the dentist when they are in pain and are not aware of the importance of regular care of their mouth. In fact poor dental health is linked to a variety of serious health conditions: regular dental visits are an excellent way of keeping these potential problems at bay,” Ms Calleja said.
Last month a seminar was held to introduce the concept to dentists in which will be available to the public shortly. Roger Matthews, Denplan’s chief dental officer was here to launch the plans and gave a brief overview of the advantages of Denplan and preventive dental practice.