TEAMWORK launched

David Lammy MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (centre) launched the sixth volume in the TEAMWORK series at the Focus Awards. He is pictured with (from left to right):- Dr Ken Eaton, Dame Margaret Seward, Surgeon Captain Stephen Lambert-Humble and Mr Ian Pocock.

Inaugural meeting of the Pain Research Forum

The inaugural meeting of the Pain Research Forum organised by healthcare professionals across Barts and The London NHS Trust and Queen Mary College was held in Autumn 2002. The group arose out of a need to improve collaboration between different disciplines in order that all the participants could learn from each other and collaborate in research on chronic pain.

The new Pain Research Forum (from l to r) Bruce Kidd, Dept of Rheumatology, Dr Ruth Taylor, Dept of Psychiatry, Dr Joanna Zakrezewska, Dept of Oral Medicine, Ms Susan Parsons, General Practice and Primary Care and Professor Martin Underwood, General Practice and Primary Care.

The group will initially begin with research centred around chronic pain and non-malignant pain. The aim is to have a comprehensive group that can put in for large project grants.

The current membership is drawn from a broad range of disciplines and includes psychiatrists, anaesthetists, primary care and general practice professionals, rheumatologists, oral medicine and pain research assistants. Membership is open to anyone within the Trusts and College who has a research interest in pain. The group will focus on strengthening its research base as opposed to educational issues but acknowledges their importance.

BDA re-appoints Scientific Advisor

Professor Liz Kay of Dental Health Services Research at the University Dental Hospital of Manchester has been re-appointed as BDA Scientific Advisor.

Following her interview, Professor Kay was unanimously recommended to the new Representative Body.

As part of her advisory role, Professor Kay will have a seat on the Executive Board of the Representative Body of the BDA. Where policies and decisions with a scientific aspect are considered by the BDA, Professor Kay will offer advice to that effect, a role she feels is important for the future of the BDA in a period of change.

Election results at the BDA

The Representative Body of the British Dental Association started a new triennium on 17th and 18th January this year. At the meeting in London, the chairman and vice-chairman of the body were elected, and the members of the various committees of the Body and the Executive Board were also elected.

Ralph Davies from the East Midlands Branch was elected chairman of the BDA's 'Rep' Body, and Trevor Mann was elected vice-chairman.

John Renshaw, Gordon Watkins and Amarjit Gill have been elected to the Executive Board for the next three years until January 2006.

The various other members of the committees are listed on the opposite page.

Executive Board member John Renshaw is a general gental practitioner in Scarborough and is a member of the BDA's Yorkshire branch. He has been chairman of the Executive Board for the past three years.

Chairman Ralph Davies is a general dental practice adviser and practitioner in Nottinghamshire. He has extensive committee experience and a wealth of expertise in superannuation.

Executive Board member Gordon Watkins is a general dental practitioner and partner in a practice with around 40 dentists in Norfolk and Suffolk. He has been chairman of the BDA's Health and Science Committee.

Vice-chairman Trevor Mann is a general dental practitioner and president of the Southern Counties Branch of the BDA. He has served on the 'Rep' Board since 1993 and is currently a member of the Remuneration and Ethics Committees.

Executive Board member Amarjit Gill is a general dental practitioner in Nottingham with a practice that is largely private. He was chairman of the Private Practice Committee for the past three years.

Constitution of the 'Rep' Body committees

The members of the committees of the Representative Body that were elected at the meeting on 17-18th January are listed below.

Armed Forces Committee Michael Nelson Gordon Thompson Albert Jukes

Central Committee for Community and Public Health Dentistry David Baird Sue Greening

Central Committee for University Dental Teachers and Research Workers Josef Rich One seat remains vacant

Education Committee Alasdair Miller Laurence Jacobs Howard Myers James Lafferty

Financial Review Group Alasdair Miller Mayur Bhatt Ann Rockey

General Dental Practice Committee Judith Husband Barry McGonigle

General Practice Management Committee Laurence Jacobs James Lafferty

Health Care Policy Group Helen Harrison Howard Myers

Scottish Dental Practice Committee Kieron Fallon Policy Working Groups·  England· W Mike Ellison Scotland· Kieron Fallon Northern Ireland· John Black

Health and Science Committee Martin Fulford David Evans

Professions Complementary to Dentistry Len D'Cruz Cameron Webster Helen Harrison

Students Committee Martin Fulford Graham Brown

Young Dentists Committee Judith Husband Russell Bennett

Remunerations Committee Christopher Hayward Helen Harrison Russell Heathcote-Curtis David Lester

Ethics Committee Martin Fulford Carolyn Taylor Trevor Mann Len D'Cruz John Black Colin Hargreaves Suresh Chande

Central Committee for Hospital Dental Services Carolyn Taylor

GDC Appointments Committee selected

The GDC has recruited six people to sit on its new Appointments Committee – an independent group of dental professionals and members of the public who will appoint the members of the GDC's new Fitness to Practise Panel.

The six newly appointed members of the Appointments Committee are:

Hazel Fraser, Sheila Hewitt, John Hunt OBE, Chris Robinson CBE, Ian Smith and Penelope Vasey MBE.

The positions were advertised in the national and dental press last autumn, and the successful candidates were selected from over 150 applicants.

Over the coming months the Appointments Committee, chaired by Sir Graham Hart, will be working to recruit the first members of the Fitness to Practise Panel and develop a training programme for them. The Committee expects to advertise and publicise early in the spring for the fifteen members of the public, fifteen dentists and five PCDs who will make up the 35-strong Fitness to Practise Panel. Full information on how to apply to be a Panel member will also be posted on the GDC website (www.gdc-uk.org) from 25th February.

New research on periodontal disease

A study at Birmingham University Dental School has shown that the antioxidant glutathione - or more accurately its absence - may be a significant factor among patients with periodontal disease.

An initial case-controlled trial led by Professor Iain Chapple, Professor of Periodontology and Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, showed that periodontal patients had significantly lower concentrations of glutathione in their gingival crevicular fluid (GCF).

The next step for Professor Chapple and his team is to establish whether the low levels of glutathione in periodontal patients is the cause of their condition or the result of the periodontal inflammation. The hypothesis is that patients with periodontal disease are deficient in this important antioxidant.

Professor Chapple's interest in antioxidants - most commonly Vitamins A, C, E and selenium - began in 1994 when he tried to find a way of measuring the total antioxidant content of GCF. He found that enhanced chemiluminescence - a glowing light signal produced by chemicals reacting together - was an effective way of doing this.

Glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that is also pivotal in modulating the immune system, was found to be routinely present in very high levels in GCF in health. However, a robustly controlled trial established that periodontal patients had lower amounts of glutathione than the age and sex-matched control group. Since glutathione neutralises free radicals, protecting cells from the damage they can cause, its compromise could be a critical factor.

A paper on the study published in the Journal of Molecular Pathology (December 2002) has attracted worldwide interest.

Primary care department opened at Birmingham

On 29th January, the Chief Dental Officer of England, Raman Bedi, officially opened the Primary Care Department at Birmingham Dental Hospital following a £700,000 improvement scheme.

A Special Care Unit has been created in the department, including a state-of-the-art wheelchair tilting device so that wheelchair users can be treated without the need to transfer to a dental chair. The nine fully-equipped cubicles give the department greater flexibility and will help the dental hospital to pilot new teaching methods for trainees.

DIARY

April 2003

BDA National Dental Conference Date: 24.04.03-26.04.03 Venue: Manchester International Convention Centre, Manchester Contact: Claire Burns Tel: +44 (0) 20 7563 4167 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7563 4591 Email: c.burns@bda-dentistry.org.uk

May 2003

BDA/BDJ Clinical Seminars - Removable Partial Dentures Date: 17.05.03 Venue: General Dental Council, London Contact: Katherine Fort Tel: +44 (0) 20 7563 4166 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7563 4591 Email: k.fort@bda-dentistry.org.uk

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

September 2003

FDI/ADA World Dental Congress Date: 18.09.03-21.09.03 Venue: Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Australia Contact: FDI Congress Department Tel: +33 (4) 50 40 50 50 Fax: +33 (4) 50 40 55 55 Email: congress@fdiworldental.org

May 2004

26th Asia Pacific Dental Congress, Hong Kong Dental Association Date: 28.05.04-01.06.04 Venue: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Contact: Congress Secretariat Fax: +852 2871 8898 Email: hkda@hkda.org