A social media campaign called Faces of the NHS has made an impression on me and for my last editorial as 'stand-in' editor, I thought I would celebrate its ethos. The campaign is based around a project set up by a partially sighted medical student after she was told she did not look like a doctor!

Her project which highlights diversity in the NHS is so well reflected in the dental profession as a whole. Dentistry is provided in so many different ways by different professionals in different settings and this is changing all the time. I would like to think that the lobbying of the BADT, chronicled by Dave Martin in this issue, is effective and dental therapists will, in future, be able to work without unnecessary restrictions. If the RAINDROP project's recommendations, covered in this issue, come to fruition, readers of BDJ Team may find their roles are extended and they can enjoy greater freedom to make a difference, especially in the field of prevention.

We have several pieces in this issue about patients with disability and how their dental care is provided. I visited the amazing Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability and met dental nurse Louise Gallagher, who is axiomatic to the hospital's dental service. We feature an article by Charlotte Bowes which highlights barriers to primary dental care for special care patients while in the news pages, you can read about software from the BDA which helps classify the complexity of needs of patients treated in the Community Dental Service.

Two other important articles in this issue are the management of compliance by Glenys Bridges, who has a new book out, and a feature on the diagnosis of oral cancer by Nichola Tong.

It is the British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show this month and periodontist Reena Wadia provides a taste of the talk she will be giving in her article called A Brief Perio Update.

The conference is one of many dental events in 2019. You will find that Diary Dates is brimming with meetings! If you can't get to events, you can of course collect your CPD via BDJ Team. This issue the questions are on head and neck cancer.

So now it's farewell from me. The lovely Kate Quinlan is returning from maternity leave and will take back the reins.

I have really enjoyed standing in for her and presenting the many roles and faces of dental team members. I wish to thank the many contributors and readers who have supported me over the last ten months and made this such a delightful experience. Long live BDJ Team!

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Caroline Holland, Editor

caroline.holland@nature.com