News

UK dentists to visit Kathmandu hospital

Staff from the Maxillofacial Unit at the Royal London Hospital are to visit the National Dental Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal to give local staff advice on setting-up a maxillofacial unit.

The long-term aim is to create a training scheme to teach maxillofacial surgery in Nepal. A consultant, John Carter and senior trainee, Peter Hardee, will go to the country to teach, operate and lecture. A surgeon from Nepal will travel to the UK for a job exchange.

During a pilot visit lasting four weeks Mr Hardee and Mr Carter saw more than 30 referred patients. Mr Hardee is pictured (below, left) presenting a plating kit to Dr Prasanta Shrestha and Dr Shushil Koirala (centre) at Kathmandu's National Dental Hospital.

New Trent dean

Chris Franklin has been appointed as regional postgraduate dental dean for the Trent NHSE Deanery. He succeeds Peter Rothwell, who retired in September 1998.

Dr Franklin is senior lecturer and honorary consultant in oral & maxillofacial pathology in Sheffield — a post he will continue part-time. He also has a long-standing interest in postgraduate education at the Royal College of Surgeons in London and at regional-local level.

All change at BDHA

Some new faces are set to appear at the BDHA following the organisation's General Assembly of Members, held in Bristol at the end of 1998.

Caroline Clitter, editor of Dental Health, is now president-elect. Sharon Allen is the new honorary secretary, with Michael Wheeler continuing as honorary treasurer.

Anthony Blinkhorn is honorary vice-president for a three-year term, joining Norman Davies and Stephen Hancocks. Graham Smart retires as an honorary president after three years' service.

Scully gets award

Crispian Scully has been awarded a Professorship of the University of Ljubjiana, Slovenia.

Professor Scully is dean and director of studies and research at the Eastman and International Centres for Excellence in Dentistry. He received the latest honour for his work with the Centre for Dental Research.

New Year's honours

Left: Dame Margaret Seward, president of the GDC. Margaret Seward is the first dentist to receive this honour.
Right: John Williams, CBE. Mr Williams is vice-president of the RCS (England) and consultant O & M surgeon at St Richard's Chichester and Worthing Hospital Trusts.
Left: Alan Lawrence, OBE. Mr Lawrence is a retired consultant in dental public health and head of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry in Oxford.
Right: Raj Rayan, OBE. Mr Rayan is a GDP working in Central London.
Left: Penny Vasey, MBE. Penny Vasey is a GDP from South Shields, and Chair of the BDA's Committee on Vocational Training.
Right: Mark Ferguson, CBE. Mr Ferguson is Professor at the Manchester School of Biological Sciences and Chair of the Government's Health and Life Sciences Panel.Photo of Penny Vasey supplied by Northeast Press

The 1999 New Year's Honours List was announced on New Year's Eve, and dentists were well-represented with the people pictured below receiving recognition for their services to dentistry.

New products

The future is bright for caries detection

The Diagnodent electronic caries detector, launched by KaVo in 1998, has been featured on the BBC television programme Tomorrow's World.

Recorded in Germany, where Diagnodent is already in use by more than 1000 practices, the show followed the case of a 12-year-old boy during a routine dental check up. Dentist Alfred Breig scanned the teeth with the Diagnodent machine and got a high reading on a molar.

Neither the intra-oral camera nor the x-ray showed any sign of caries, but when Dr Breig opened up the tooth he found caries and was able to restore it without anaesthetic, using a minimally invasive procedure.

A scientific report and information booklet on Diagnodent is now available from KaVo. Freephone 0800 281020.

Above, from left: Tony Reed, executive director of the BDTA and Brian Whitby, BDTA president with Peter Rees, general manager of Dentsply at the 1998 Dental Showcase.Dentsply's stand was voted the best at the event by visitors.

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One step beyond

Dentsply says it has taken pit and fissure sealing one step further with new Dyract Seal compomer pit and fissure sealant and Total-Seal technique.

Dyract Seal is a light-curing one-component pit and fissure sealant, available in clear or opaque. It combines sealing ability with abrasion resistance, good mechanical properties and long-term fluoride release. The NRC (non-rinse conditioner), an acid conditioning procedure, makes the changing of cotton rolls obsolete and improves the acceptance of treatment, especially with young children.

The Total Seal technique involves the application of the low-viscous acetone-based adhesive Prime & Bond NT (pictured, above) prior to sealant application. This ensures deep penetration of the resin into narrow fissures and tight sealing.

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Direct action

Heraeus Kulzer has announced that it is to take a more active role in the UK dental laboratory business.

By trading direct with UK dental dealers, the company hopes to double the size of its dental laboratories business in 1999 and has set itself the target of becoming the leading UK supplier of essential laboratory products.

Laboratories will still be able to order Heraeus Kulzer products from existing dealers, but the dealers will now be supplied from the manufacturer direct and products will be available through leading 'full service' retail outlets.

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Panadent laser

Panadent has installed the first Type IV dental laser in the UK. The first customers, London's Brooker & Hamill Dental Laboratory, took delivery of a compact mobile unit.

Current methods of joining alloys are dependent on different soldering techniques, but titanium cannot be fused except by laser welding — a method that allows the user to make repairs (on chrome partial dentures, for example) without always having to remove the acrylic.

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Oral-B launches sugar-free gum

Oral-B has launched a dental health, sugar-free gum with two active ingredients, xylitol and baking soda. Xylitol has anti-cariogenic properties and helps to retard plaque growth. Baking soda helps to neutralise plaque acids.

Oral-B Dental Health Gum contains twenty pieces per individual box and is sold in packs of 24. Priced at RRP £1.25, it will be available to dental practices from 51 pence a pack.

Sugar-free gum is thought to enhance the re-mineralisation of white spot lesions and reduce the incidence of caries.

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