New BDJ Associate Editor

Dr Peter Mossey, Senior Lecturer in Orthodontics at the University of Dundee, has been appointed Associate Editor for Dental Education of the British Dental Journal. Dr Mossey graduated from the University of Dundee in 1983 and his subsequent postgraduate dental education and training was gained in posts at Dundee Dental School.

Stop the rot to tiny teeth

As tooth decay among toddlers and babies reaches alarming levels in some parts of England, the Health Education Authority (HEA) launched a new drive to improve the dental health of more than a million children who are cared for in nurseries, family centres and playgroups.

A new survey, conducted by Mancunian Community Health NHS Trust, found that more than one in five three- year-olds have rampant tooth decay in Manchester, with more than half having five or more teeth affected.

As part of the HEA's drive to improve the dental health of children under five, 10,000 'smiling for life' education packs, will be distributed to childcarers in nurseries, family centres and playgroups. This will be complemented by a regional training programme and the publication of 'Oral health promotion: a guide to effective working in pre-school settings' handbook, to help community dental health promotion and dietetic teams support childcarers at a local level.

An impressive service

After visiting Aylesbury Vale Healthcare's Personal Dental Service (PDS) Mr John Denham, Minister of State for Health, announced the addition of 24 new pilot NHS dentistry schemes, along with extra funding for Aylesbury PDS pilot site at the Brookside Clinic, Aylesbury.

New DLA Chairman

At the recent Dental Laboratories Association AGM and Annual Conference, John Walton was installed as Chairman of the DLA for the year leading into the Millennium.

Dr John Wolffe

Dr John Wolffe of Hendon was elected to the Board of Trustees of Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity at the group's 91st annual convention held recently in Jerusalem. Alpha Omega is one of the world's largest international dental associations and was founded in 1907 to provide mutual support for Jewish dental students who were faced with discrimination in the academic community.

Refugee aid scheme

Dencare Management Group has launched a refugee aid scheme for the Kosovo crisis.

Each dentist in the Group has been asked to contribute a proportion of their gross fees for one month. The Group will then match the contribution.

If one in four dentists in this country donated 1% of one month's fees, the profession could contribute nearly half a million pounds.

Dencare has set up a trust account run by Colin Hall Dexter. To participate, call Frances Richards on 01892 538895.

Research Grant

Dr Damien Walmsley (right) and Dr Gabriel Landini were awarded £240,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to establish a resource centre for assessing ultrasonic instruments used in dentistry. The grant will enable the group at the School of Dentistry to purchase a scanning laser vibrometer. Workshops will be used to bring together clinicians and industry to develop the scientific data provided from the vibrometer studies, leading to better ultrasonic tip designs.

The Queen honours four from the profession

The Birthday Honours list was announced last month, and dentists were well- represented with the following receiving recognition for their services to dentistry:

Below: Professor Sonia Williams was awarded an MBE for her work in Child Dental Health and also for her work with ethnic minorities. Since 1982, while based at Leeds Dental Institute, she has undertaken much of the original research on oral health in relation to transcultural issues, both in the UK and overseas.

In 1994, she founded and became Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research into Oral Health and Migration at Leeds University.

Top right: Chris Stephens is Professor and Head of the Division of Child Dental Health at the University of Bristol Dental School and Consultant in Orthodontics to the United Bristol Healthcare Trust.

He has helped develop a number of computer assisted learning programs and more recently, has developed with colleagues, two computerised dental clinic decision support systems to assist dental practitioners in the planning of orthodontic treatment for their child patients.

At present, Professor Stephens is helping to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of videoconferencing to provide on-line specialist advice for dentists working in general practice.

Above: Gordon Watkins, Vice-Chairman of the BDA Council was appointed MBE in the Birthday Honours list. He is a GDP from Norfolk and is also Chairman of the BDA's Auxiliary Personnel Committee, which formulated the Association's response to the GDC's DARG report. He was also a member of that review Group. He has also been a member of the Dental Practice Board.

Below: Rosemarie Khan was awarded an OBE for Services to Standards in Dental Hygiene.

She qualified as a dental hygienist in 1970 and since then has worked in general dental practice. From 1971 until 1998, she was a Tutor Hygienist at Manchester Dental hospital. However, since April 1998 she has been employed as an Oral Health Promotion Manager for Community Health Sheffield.

Rosemarie was President of the British Dental Hygienists Association and a UK Director of the International Federation of Dental Hygiene. She is currently Honorary Secretary of the Lindsay