One fine day at the races. . .

The Western Counties Branch are almost non-existent in its get-togethers these days, according to past president Shelagh Farrell, so a day at Newbury Races was long overdue. The day was organised by Dr Ivor Doney, 81, now retired and an honorary member of the Western Counties Branch.

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Scottish controversy

Ministers will reignite the controversy on adding fluoride to Scotland's drinking water with the launch of new proposals in a bid to tackle the country's poor dental health record.

Mary Mulligan, the deputy health minister, has kicked off a three-month consultation into the issue, which stalled 19 years ago after a lengthy legal battle.

The consultation comes almost two years after it was originally signalled in the Scottish Executive's health strategy. The Executive's caution over fluoridation, despite being backed by Susan Deacon, the then health minister, is also reflected by the consultation document being 'completely neutral' on the issue.

Other options will also be included, such as adding fluoride to milk given to young children at school and in nurseries, which already happens in parts of England. Vulnerable children could also be provided with free toothbrushes and toothpaste, and fluoride tablets made available.

BDHF new website

British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) will launch its new website during Mouth Cancer Awareness Week (12-18 November 2002).

The BDHF site can be accessed directly via its www.mouthcancer.org.uk address. Dentists will be able to refer patients to this site, which provides the public with information about the causes and treatments of mouth cancer.

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EU threat to patient safety

The General Dental Council (GDC) is warning that a new European directive, 'Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications', which lets dentists work in the UK without being registered could put patients' safety at risk.

Along with nine of the UK's health and social care regulators, it is calling on MEP's and officials to reconsider their proposals.

The GDC believes that the proposal for a directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications is designed to facilitate the free movement of professionals, but it does so at the expense of patient and service user safety. Articles 5-9 of this proposal would allow individuals established in one member state to practise in another for up to 16 weeks, without registration in the host state.

Nairn Wilson, president of the GDC says that this is completely unacceptable and against its own efforts as regulators and those of the Government, to put public protection first and runs counter to the principles of human health protection enshrined in the Treaty of Rome.

The GDC is working to raise awareness and support for our concerns about this proposed Directive, and to try to get it amended.

Professor Nairn Wilson, president of the GDC said that the Alliance has been formed because 'we all exist to protect the public and uphold the highest standards of care' and that 'we believe that the Directive should be an opportunity to secure the standards we would all like to see but the draft fails to do this.'

Web access to Cochrane Library

Update Software and the National Electronic Library for Health (NeLH) have announced that anyone in England will have access to the Internet and will be able to connect to The Cochrane Library free of charge.

This initiative, which was originally set up as a pilot scheme to provide access to The Cochrane Library for all health professionals within the NHS in England, is one of a series of steps aimed at making The Cochrane Library readily available to people throughout the world.

The NeLH has also agreed a deal to allow free access to the BMJ Publishing Group's Clinical Evidence.

Public access to these two important medical resources through the National Electronic Library for Health (www.nelh.nhs.uk) was launched at the International Health Association's 2002 conference at the Barbican Centre in London recently. The list of countries which currently have access to The Cochrane Library include Australia, England, Finland, Ireland and Norway.

Recognising the work of CVT

The final meeting of the Committee on Vocational Training for England and Wales (CVT) recently took place. The organisation has been in existence since 1993. During this time, CVT has issued guidance on all aspects of vocational training (VT), including the curriculum, which has developed in line with changes in practice and the health service.

It has been the central organisation (non-statutory) set up to manage and monitor vocational training (VT) schemes for NHS general dental practitioners in a consistent and objective manner.

A document detailing CVT's achievements from 1993-2002 is now available from CVT office. Its achievements include operating a Quality Assessment Framework, ensuring the equality of a high standard of training throughout England and Wales; establishing contractual arrangements within local VT schemes; developing the Professional Development Portfolio in line with current educational practice; managing the central financing of VT and its manpower issues and seeing major changes in NHS policy.

Until 31 March 2003, CVT office will continue to operate from its current premises at 123 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8WD. The acting CVT chairman (since 1 October 2002) is Ralph Davies. Ralph Davies is a GDP working part-time as an associate for the corporate Oasis, having sold his practice to them two years ago.

His involvement with VT over the last 12 years includes being an appointed trainer three times, a member of local trainer selection panels, member of local VT committee, and lecturer to VT groups, 'training the trainers' courses and undergraduate groups. He participates regularly in VT practice inspection visits.

GDC Election: make your vote count

Nominations for candidates in the GDC election have now closed and the time has come to start voting. The voting period will run from 18 November and voting papers must be returned by 9 December 2002.

If you are registered or enrolled with the GDC (and your registered/enrolled address is in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) you are entitled to vote. A voting paper, a reply-paid envelope, and a 'Candidates' Who's Who' will be sent to you at your registered/enrolled address shortly.

Election results will be published on the GDC website at www.gdc-uk.org. If you have not received your voting paper by 22 November, or if you have any questions about the GDC election, email elections@gdc-uk.org or call 020 7887 3838.

Oasis approaches turnover of £38m

Oasis Healthcare Plc has said its annual turnover is approaching £38 million after it expanded its estate of dental practices to 75 with the acquisition of further practices. The company paid £640,000 in total for general dental practices in Brigg and Trowbridge. During the current financial year, Oasis has completed 10 dental practice acquisitions and one merger, with average turnover per acquisition at over £700,000, well above the target of £500,000. The current pipeline of new acquisition prospects indicates that this target can continue to be exceeded, Oasis said.

Scientific highlights from Pan European Festival of Oral Science

The largest scientific convention of European dental researchers took place recently in Cardiff. The Pan European Festival of Oral Science, Cardiff saw over 750 research papers in all aspects of dental and oral science presented, together with a comprehensive range of symposia and keynote lectures.

The very diverse subjects to be covered include advances in clinical dental treatment, biomaterials science, molecular control of dental and oral development, microbiology and control of infection, genetic factors in oral disease, oral cancer and other oral diseases. Here is a selection from some of the scientific and clinical research presented at the Conference in Cardiff. . .

Probiotics and caries prevention

Caries can be prevented by complete removal of dental plaque containing caries inducing bacteria and by a diet low in sugars and fermentable carbohydrates. Both of these goals are difficult to achieve. An alternative approach is to replace or inhibit the cariogenic bacteria long- term with safe probiotic bacteria. Probiotic bacteria have been shown to reduce dental caries rate in children. This study from the Institute of Dentistry, Helsinki using cheese as a vehicle for the probiotic bacteria demonstrated a persistent reduction in cariogenic bacteria.

Oral benefits of a veggie diet

Vegetarian diet protects against oral cancer in young adults. The incidence of oral cancer amongst young adults is rising in many European countries including the UK. The authors from Guy's, King's, St Thomas Dental School report on the results of two case controlled studies which indicate that occurrence of oral cancer in young patients is associated with starting smoking before the age of 16 in males and 21 in females and with excess alcohol consumption.

A vegetarian diet was found to protect against oral cancer. Health professionals and the public need to be aware that oral cancer especially in a subgroup of young women can arise in non-smokers and non-drinkers.

How stress takes its toll on patients

Stress takes its toll on the body in surprising ways. Researchers from Bart's and the Royal London Dental School used the Hassles Questionnaire, which is a subjective measure of stress, and a good predictor of psychological symptoms, to measure the effect of stress on the clinical response to routine dental scaling and oral hygiene instruction. The response to treatment was significantly better in those patients reporting lower levels of daily hassles and worse in those patients who scored highly. The authors concluded that stress management might be a useful adjunct to conventional periodontal treatment for patients particularly susceptible to daily hassles and stresses.

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Genetic factors behind periodontitis

Aggressive periodontitis is a genetically distinct entity. There is strong evidence that both genetic as well as environmental factors affect the lifetime risk of developing periodontitis.

Research from Eastman Dental Institute has demonstrated that an aggressive, destructive form of the periodontal disease is associated with functional polymorphisms in an immune response gene the IL-1 gene cluster., indicating a molecular basis for periodontal disease.

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