Q. When a dentist refers to a hygienist can he/she give a prescription for 3/6 monthly or any regular recall appointment valid for three years? Should there be an expiry date?

The GDC’s guidance indicates that the referring dentist must provide a treatment plan to the hygienist that outlines the treatment that they feel is necessary. That treatment plan can (if the dentist wishes) be quite simple in nature, thus leaving the treatment and treatment intervals very much up to the individual hygienist. For more complex cases most hygienists would feel slightly more comfortable with a treatment plan giving far more detail. The GDC suggests that the treatment plan should (you will notice that the GDC do not say that such information is mandatory) include details of the recall interval, the date of the full mouth assessment and whether a referral is necessary.

The length of time that a treatment plan would be valid for depends very much on the individual patient and the treatment they require. Three years then is regarded as being a maximum between a dentist’s examinations, as for obvious reasons much could change in that time.

When it comes to an expiry date, the dentist would of course indicate in the prescription when he or she wanted the patient to be seen again by them.

Related questions:

Q. If a patient has not been seen by a dentist for three years or less can the hygienist arrange for the dentist to come in at the hygiene appointment, before treatment starts, and the dentist can then write a prescription/referral?

Q. Is it illegal for a hygienist to treat a patient who has not seen a dentist for three years?