The following is a list of enhancements included in R4+ Version 8.9.0. All fixes are cumulative (each new release contains all new fixes as well as all fixes from the previous release).
The NHS Business Services Authority have issued several changes with the goal to recognise more Forms of Treatment within an FP17 Claim and subsequently reduce the amount which presents as “Other” and Claims that present in COMPASS with CDS vs. Band Mismatches.
Chart Calculated CDS Values
User Determined CDS Values
A new option has been added to the CDS Tab > User Determined Values Sub Tab called Lab Made Splint, where any applicable Splint Treatment Code was used which has been Lab Produced in a Course; the user should ensure to set this option in the FP17 Claim to indicate this to COMPASS.
A new option has been added to the CDS Tab > User Determined Values Sub Tab called Non-Lab Made Appliance / Splint, where any applicable Denture or Splint Treatment Code was used which have not been Lab Produced in a Course; the user should ensure to set this option in the FP17 Claim to indicate this to COMPASS.
Any Practices that have not upgraded before 30th November 2025 may continue to submit the wrong CDS Treatment Codes incurring CDS vs. Band Mismatch comments in any affected Claim Responses. However, in the future COMPASS may start rejecting claims which continue to show CDS Band v Charge Banding Mismatches.
The NHS Business Services Authority have issued changes affecting the formatting of the Date of Referral and any Appliance Fitted Date that is transmitted in Orthodontic FP17 Claims to COMPASS.
While this change has no effect on the viewed FP17 Claim Form, a transition window is currently running from 1st August 2025 to 30th November 2025 to provide time to allow Practices to upgrade to ensure uninterrupted claim processing in COMPASS.
Any Practices that have not upgraded before 30th November 2025 may start receiving warnings in any affected Claim Responses from the beginning of December. However, COMPASS may start rejecting claims from the end of 2025 if practices have still not applied this update.
The NHS Business Services Authority have issued changes affecting the use of Regulation 11. As part of this, additional fixes have also been included to help correct the usage of Replacement Appliance Dental Courses as follows:
We have corrected an issue that stopped Examination Treatment Codes from being used in any Replacement Appliance Course of Treatment which previously required overriding the FP17 CDS to indicate an exam. Users can now chart Examinations per Regulation 11 as a Claim must include an examination and assessment of the patient's oral health.
We have corrected an issue that stopped an FP17 Claim from being submitted where an Obturator (2901) was included in the Replacement Appliance Course.
Where Obturators are present in a Course, the FP17 Claim will now transmit using the CDS Value of Upper Acrylic Dentures as a 0-count value. This is overridden if any Upper Acrylic Denture is also included as it will take precedence; however, as Obturators under Regulation 11 is considered a rarely used item, this is expected to be unlikely.
The Scottish Government has revised SDR fees alongside additional changes issued by NHS Scotland Practitioner Services as follows:
SDR 168 comes into force from 1st November 2025 and applies a 4% (rounded) Fee Uplift for Dental and Orthodontic Treatment Charges.
The Default Minimum Prior Approval Tiering floor limit has now moved from £600 to £660 from 1st November 2025. List numbers should be receiving automatic tiering updates from MIDAS to adjust individual limits accordingly.
If you do not receive any Dental or Ortho Claim Update Messages adjusting your personal limit, and your limit is shown as below the new minimum threshold by the end of October 2025, you can view and manually apply the limit adjustment from the Users screen – List number tab to take affect from November 1st as required.
From 1st November 2025, Treatment Code B002 has been mapped to allow proposal on Adult Upper Outer Incisors and Child Upper \ Lower Molars.
Discretionary Treatment Code 9002 has been further backported to SDR 165 (November 2023) so it is now available under all Courses of Treatment since the 2023 SDR Payment Reform.
New Treatment Reason Codes are available for FP17 Claims involving Item 1c (A003) Assessments from 1st November 2025. These are as follows: Sensitivity, Temporary filling / dressing, Pulpitis / extirpation, Periapical abscess, Dry Socket and TMJ / TMJD.
Note: After the R4+ Upgrade completes, please ensure you complete a user login on the R4+ Server and import all required Code Updates when prompted for the Treatment changes to take effect.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has issued an SDR amendment alongside an additional change issued by NHS HSC Business Services Organisation as follows:
New Treatment Code 3212 (Temporary addition of acid-etch composite, glass ionomer, or resin material to facilitate bite raising) comes into effect from 17th November 2025. This is a Single Use Code per NHS Dental or Orthodontic Course of Treatment and is located under the Miscellaneous Treatment Category.
A New Proviso Rule is introduced from 17th November 2025 affecting the use of Treatment Code 2733 alongside Denture Codes 2861 or 2863. This is due to the fact that Code 2733 includes any necessary Clasps added at the time of manufacture and Codes 2861 and 2862 are only payable for new Clasps added to existing Dentures.
Note: After the R4+ Upgrade completes, please ensure you complete a user login on the R4+ Server and import all required Code Updates when prompted for the Treatment changes to take effect.
When using Appointment Card Template Management from within the Planner (accessed under Options > Appointment Card Templates) a New Mail Merge option called Clinic Name has been added to the Right Click Mouse Mail Merge Menu for the Print, Email and SMS Options available from this screen.
In SDR Fee Updates since November 2023 the Material Data was missing for Treatment Code D013 when used under the NHS Occasional Schemes resulting in a warning and being unable to propose any D013 Treatments. This has now been fixed in R4+ v8.9.0.
The Operating Window for Fee SDR 136 was previously incorrect, affecting the ability to Create Dental or Orthodontic Courses of Treatment between May 2024 and August 2024 Retroactively. This has now been fixed in R4+ v8.9.0.
An issue was identified whereby any Patient enabled for SMS Messaging under the Work/Tel Email screen that was missing a Mobile Number would cause SMS Messaging to instead use an Invalid Number to send a Patient's appointment reminder.
It should not be possible to Enable SMS Messaging on a Patient without a recorded Mobile Number and likewise leave SMS Messaging Enabled if a Mobile Number is removed. This has now been fixed in R4+ v8.9.0
An issue was identified where if completing a Fresh Installation or Re-installation of an R4+ Application Server, it would continue to install the redundant SQL CLR Assemblies and continue to check for them when Logging into R4+, which in some cases could result in displayed Errors. This has now been fixed in R4+ v8.9.0.
A small issue was introduced in R4+ v8.7.0 which could cause an Error to be displayed when attempting to save any changes made to the Software Main Settings Screen (Main Screen > Edit > Settings). This has now been fixed in R4+ v8.9.0.