Turner painting up for auction

The above painting, entitled The Unpaid Bill, or the Dentist reproving his Son's Prodigality (1808), is due to be auctioned at Christies on 27 November 2002. The painting depicts a dentist's surgery dating back to the early 1800s and as such is of great value for dental historians and researchers. This choice of subject matter in 1808 is highly unusual, as few of Turner's contemporaries would have visited such a surgery (there were only about 40 dentists operating in London and approximately 20 around the rest of the country). Turner captures the state of dentistry at the time; the surgery is cluttered with anatomical books, an apothecary's brews and potions, and rudimentary dental and medical instruments.

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Dentists' trouble with teething

Symptoms which may show babies have a more serious medical problem are often wrongly blamed simply on teething, says research.

A study by Australian researchers said that a broad range of health professionals, including dentists, wrongly thought that teething could cause fever in babies. This, say researchers, could lead to more dangerous conditions being overlooked. They found that vomiting, diarrhoea and fever are definitely not symptoms of teething.

According to the study, many of the professionals thought that teething predisposed babies to colds and ear infections. In fact, none of these are associated with teething. The researchers said that incorrect beliefs may prevent professionals from effectively managing some of the common developmental issues of infancy and might lead to late diagnosis of important illness.

They also suggested that a reach for the prescription pad should not be the first reaction of any doctor confronted by a teething baby.

National nutrition

The BDA welcomed the recent publication of Oona King's Ten Minute Rule Billon National Nutrition.

The Bill backed clearer information on health risks to be displayed on the packaging of food and drinks with high sugar content and the role of sugar as the main cause of dental decay. It also stated that limiting the frequency of sugar consumption is an important method of preventing dental disease.

The BDA supports health promotion and education programmes to help tackle dental diseases such as dental decay. Decay in children can lead to extractions, yet it is a preventable disease. Such a strategy could help to tackle oral health inequalities. Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds have more dental decay.

Welsh patients at risk from EU action

Welsh Assembly Members returning to work are now faced with growing concern over the safety of Welsh patients. A new Alliance of ten UK health and social care regulators (AURE) wrote to all Welsh Assembly members about its concerns for Welsh patients. This threat to patient safety is posed by a new EU draft Directive which proposes that health care professionals from any EU country would be allowed to work for up to four months per year, every year, in the UK, without being registered with a UK regulator.

In practice this means that if there was a problem with the care a person received, the UK regulators would have no powers to take action against the individual. Nor would there be any means of preventing the same problem from happening again with other patients. Alliance members welcome the contribution made by health professionals from other European Union countries and support the freedom of movement of professionals. However, they have serious concerns about the Directive and the impact it could have on patient safety.

The Directive proposes to water down existing public protection safeguards. Each regulator at present can assure the public that everyone coming onto its register is properly qualified to practise. The Alliance wants to see an effective mechanism put in place, which ensures high standards of practice in education, training and communication across the EU. The current proposals do not meet this need. Professor Nairn Wilson, President of the GDC says that he believes the Directive should be an opportunity to secure the standards we would all like to see and this draft fails to do this.

Glasgow student wins prize at PPP Foundation Seminar

Deborah Lockhart, an undergraduate dental student at Glasgow Dental School, has been awarded the prize for the best presentation at the PPP Foundation Intercalated Students' Northern Seminar, which took place recently. Deborah, the only dental student among a field of medical students from all over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England, gave a presentation entitled 'Taking Bacteria to Heart: Molecular Analysis of Human Aorta for Bacteria'. The work she presented was undertaken as part of an intercalated BSc (Dent Sci) in Microbiology, which Deborah completed in June 2002, graduating with First Class Honours. The project was supervised by Drs MP Riggio and H. J. Rolph of the Infection Research Group based at Glasgow Dental School.

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Morriston Maxillofacial Unit Awarded Research Grant

The AO Research Fund has awarded Morriston Hospital Swansea Maxillofacial Unit a grant of over £25,000 to perform a randomised controlled trial to compare plating techniques for mandibular angle fractures. The angle is the most frequent site of mandibular fracture but also has the highest rate of complications. One technique of placing an intra-oral mini plate to the anterior aspect of the external oblique ridge is to be compared with a combined intra-oral and transbuccal technique where a single mini plate is placed to the lateral aspect of the oblique ridge (Figure 1).

The project is led by specialist registrar Andy Gibbons and supervised by consultant Adrian Sugar. Approximately 187 patients need to be recruited to the study to achieve meaningful statistics.

In answering the question 'what is the best position on the mandibular external oblique ridge to place a mini plate for mandibular angle fractures' the researchers aim to establish evidence based guidelines for the treatment of these fractures.

Fig.1 shows a combined intra-oral and transbuccal technique where a single mini plate is placed to the lateral aspect of the oblique ridge. Anterior Plate (1) and Lateral Plate (2) are labelled above.

Integrated Dental Holdings buys nine further practices for £3.04 million

Integrated Dental Holdings PLC have bought nine additional practices for an aggregate £3.04 million in cash. The nine practices comprise a total of twenty-five surgeries and have a combined annualised turnover of approximately £5.2 million and in excess of 50,000 patients.

These practices are located across the UK in Glasgow (3), Edinburgh, Louth, Bristol, Cambridge, Berkhamsted and Surbiton, and the number of practices owned by IDH is now 148, operating mainly within the NHS market.

Statutory CPD scheme - new regulations

The GDC has written to all registered dentists who began statutory CPD on 1 January 2002 to find out how many hours of CPD they have completed this year.

The statutory CPD scheme went live in January and requires all registered dentists, from their start date, to complete and keep records over a five year cycle of their 250 CPD hours (75 of which must be verifiable). At the end of each year, dentists must complete an annual statement declaring their hours of verifiable and general CPD. At the end of each five-year cycle, the Council may ask for their CPD records for audit.

The GDC recommends that the statutory 250 hours of CPD are spread evenly over the five-year cycle. Dentists who do all their CPD in one year will not be properly demonstrating that they have kept up to date throughout the cycle.

Those receiving the annual statement should complete and return it to the GDC by 1 February 2003. Dentists should not send the GDC any other documents, records or certificates at this stage, although they may be asked to do so at the end of their five-year cycle. The GDC runs a CPD Information Line to answer any queries about the statutory CPD scheme. Call 020 7887 3838, 3809 or 3879 or email recertification@gdcuk.org.

HRT toothpaste - taste of things to come?

Women seeking to counter the effects of the menopause may soon be able to do it simply by brushing their teeth: American scientists have developed a toothpaste that provides hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The toothpaste, which also works perfectly for dental hygiene, will offer an easily remembered alternative for women suffering the hot flushes, flagging libido and sleeplessness that often accompany the menopause.

Research at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston has shown that controlled, long lasting doses of the female hormone oestrogen can be administered effectively in this way. Although further trials are still required, the HRT toothpaste could reach the market within five years.

New President elect for European Association of Oral Medicine

Crispian Scully was elected President of the European Association of Oral Medicine at the biennial meeting in Lisbon, recently.

Professor Scully, chairman of the International Federation of Oral Medicine and a member of the International Committee of the American Academy for Oral Medicine, is involved in several journals. He is editor of Oral Oncology, coeditor of Oral Diseases and Medicina Oral, and is on the editorial boards of journals such as the International Journal of Oncology, Archives of Oral Biology and Continuing Professional Development in Dentistry.

He has lectured worldwide mainly on oral medicine, oral pathology and special care dentistry, has written 30 books, and numerous chapters, research papers, and reviews on clinical problems, and has received the University of Helsinki Medal of Honour.

Recent books have included ABC of Oral Health, Dermatology of the Lips, Color Atlas of Orofacial Disease in Children and Adolescents, Oral Diseases, Oxford Handbook of Dental Patient Care and Periodontal Manifestations of Systemic Disease.

His book Medical Problems in Dentistry was awarded a Prize for one of the top-selling medical or dental books worldwide.

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Dental management programme recognised in National Training Awards

Wallington-based UMD Professional has been selected as a finalist in the 2002 National Training Awards for its innovative dental 'Hands-on Management' programme in which some 200 dental practices have participated over the last three years.

The National Training Awards are universally recognised as the number one training award in the UK and are given to organisations and individuals who have achieved lasting excellence and success through carrying out exceptionally effective training. This year, the awards attracted more than a thousand entries from all over the UK.

UMD Professional was proposed for an award by the LSC for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight where 26 practices have achieved the Investors in People standard by using this unique 'Hands-on' approach. Award winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Banqueting House in London in mid-November.

'We are delighted to have reached the finals of these prestigious awards, and particularly pleased that the importance of effective training in dental business management has been recognised,' said Fiona Stuart-Wilson, Director of UMD Professional.

GDC Annual Retention Fee Increase

The General Dental Council's (GDC) Annual Retention Fees for 2003 have been submitted to the Privy Council, with Department of Health support, for approval.

The fees are lower than those agreed by Council in March and reaffirmed at its September meeting as the levels necessary to deliver the Council's programme of reform. The Council was concerned that its original proposals were not supported by the Department but, anxious to secure increased fees in time for 2003, the Council made these revised proposals for 2003. The Department of Health has confirmed its support for the Council's programme of reform.

Discussions with the Department have concerned pacing rather than the Council's agreed objectives. The revised fees (£300, as opposed to £350) will mean that the Council will not be able to make as much progress with its reforms in 2003 as it had initially planned. There will be a delay for the Council in setting up a non-NHS Patients Complaints Scheme because the Council must await the necessary legislation before beginning preparatory work. Also, the Council will not be able to begin to restore its necessary level of reserves in 2003. This will affect the Council's ability to deal with any unexpected, atypical expenditure.

The Council's Finance Committee is committed to immediately embarking on work to establish the fee levels for 2004.

An IIP partridge in a Pear Tree

The Pear Tree Dental Centre has recently been recognised as an 'Investor in People'. The award was presented by David Kerry of the Learning and Skills Council, Nottingham. The practice is owned by Mrs Julie Kirkby BDS. She opened the practice in the summer of 1990; moving to completely refurbished premises in 1999, in order to offer an improved service to patients.

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DIARY

January 2003

Commonwealth Medico-Legal Conference
Date: 17.01.03-18.01.03
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Contact: Alice Joseph, c/o Malaysian Medical Association, 4th Floor, MMA House, 124 Jalan Pahang, 53000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +03 40411375 Fax: +03 40434444
Website: www.mma.org.my/event/cmlc

March 2003

American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Exhibition
Date: 13.03.03-15.03.03
Venue: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Contact: Michael Dominguez, CMP Exhibits Manager, IADR/AADR Central Office, 1619 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 223143406, USA.
Tel: (001) 202 887 0788
Fax: (001) 202 861 9799
Email: michael@iadr.org

April 2003

South East Thames Division FGDP Scientific Meeting: 'Will they tell us something new?'
Date: 11.04.03
Venue: The Salomons Centre, Southborough, Kent
Contact: Mrs Elizabeth Jarrett, Administrative Secretary, FGDP (UK) SE Thames Division, 'Sunrise' 1 Park Crescent, Crowborough, East Sussex. TN6 2QP.
Tel: +44 (0)1892 654384
Email: elisabeth.jarrett@btinternet.com

May2003

ADI Congress and Exhibition: Implantology Teamwork
Date: 09.05.03-10.05.03
Venue: International Congress Centre, Birmingham
Contact: Mrs Cherry Wilson, ADI Secretariat, 37 Halford Road, Richmond, Surrey. TW10 6AW.
Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 0321
Fax: +44 (0)20 8940 0337
Email: adi.uk@btinternet.com

June 2003

SAAD 10th International Dental Congress on Modern Pain Control
Date: 05.06.03-07.06.03
Venue: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact: Congress Secretariat, SAAD2003, Concorde Services, 4B 50 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow. G4 9TB.
Tel: +44 (0)141 331 0123
Fax: +44 (0)141 331 0234