First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan has officially unveiled a new state of the art dental teaching unit in Porth, the first of its kind to open in Wales.

The multi-purpose unit is funded as a joint initiative by the Welsh Assembly Government, Rhondda Cynon Taff Teaching Local Health Board and the School of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education within Cardiff University.

The dental teaching unit will be home to ten recently qualified dentists while they complete a two year longitudinal dental foundation training scheme. A central decontamination unit has been installed in the building to improve infection control, while cutting edge technology has been imported from America and used to fully equip eight dental surgeries.

The newly qualified dentists will work under the guidance of experienced dental surgeons and will benefit from versatile working stations, which allow the dentist to work ambidextrously with their equipment. Electronic charting and digital imaging systems will also save valuable time for both dentists and patients, enabling more patients to receive comprehensive care in all aspects of NHS dentistry.

The dental teaching unit also features an air-conditioned conference centre with 120 seating capacity. A large screen linked to video cameras located in one of the surgeries will allow members of the dental team to watch live procedures. After viewing the procedures they can enhance and develop their own skills in a specialised dental training room fully equipped with 18 individual work stations (phantom heads).

On opening the unit, First Minister Rhodri Morgan said, 'This dental training unit will be the first of its kind in Wales and it will make a significant difference to the quality of our dentistry. Not only will it provide invaluable training for our future and current dentists, it will improve access to dentistry in the area so that every patient will have access to a dentist.'

The surgery is also equipped with a surgical operating microscope allowing extreme close up images of the root canal systems of teeth. Mr Jeremy Hayes, Senior Dental Surgeon, will use this microscope to provide specialist endodontic treatment for patients of the dental teaching unit along with referrals from local practitioners under the terms of the NHS dental services.