Numbered SOPs - a simple solution to 'note bloat' in dentistry?

Clinical documentation in UK dentistry is often inefficient, leading to 'note bloat'. Excessive record keeping may reduce chairside time, reducing patient access. The availability of written standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the execution of routine primary dental care treatments has the scope to offer structured, evidence-based treatment protocols that could improve consistency, patient safety, and clinical efficiency. This article examines the use of agreed SOPs for routine treatment procedures and as a solution to streamlining documentation, concomitantly ensuring compliance and care quality. The proposed approach involves assigning each agreed SOP a unique treatment code, enabling the use of shorthand for recording comprehensive protocols. This approach can abate documentation time, uphold legal standards, and allow tailored notes when deviations occur. Nationally-agreed SOPs are recommended over local versions to ensure uniformity, reduce development burden, and mitigate regulatory risk. Integration of SOPs with electronic health records and artificial intelligence could further automate documentation, strengthen audit trails, and lower dento-legal risk. Clinicians must, however, ensure the use of such codes accurately reflects care provision and clearly document any deviations. By adopting SOPs and treatment codes, dental practices could enhance efficiency, maintain professional standards, and free capacity to deliver more patient care within existing resources.