Sir, I am writing to you to complain about the content of BDJ Volume 223 No. 12, published on 22 December 2017, which contained inaccurate yet plausible content that could mislead and misinform readers of this journal.

The Editorial set the tone for this edition by reporting the use of robots to perform implants in China. This is within the bounds of possibility as was the next item regarding data transmitted from electronic toothbrushes which could lead to a Home Dental Check system that could determine whether a visit to the dentist was required. There were two other 'developments' that bordered on the edge of believable (Uberdent and Airrotor).

Spoof letters and fake news articles regarding various aspects of Christmas and its relevance to CQC, Christmas cards, whisky, cakes and Russian hacking in BDA elections followed. These were all very tongue in cheek (forgive the pun). There followed what I presumed was the serious part of the journal dealing with electronic records, oral and maxillofacial trauma, and burnout in dental students. My problem with the first (flippant) part of the journal is that I now had to ask myself, 'do I believe that there is burnout in dental students with all the attendant suicide problems or is this one of their jokes?'

My feeling, if you have not discerned it so far, is that there is a place for spoof articles and bogus reporting but a serious professional journal is not the forum for such. Anything you read in a professional publication should be true, trusted and believable and not subject to doubt because of some pathetic jokes inserted by the editorial staff. All that was required from the Editor was 'Happy Christmas to all our members and a plague on the GDC'.

The Editor-in-Chief responds: I am sorry to read of Dr Lawrence's disapproval of the mixed content of our Christmas issue. We made sure that all 'spoof' content was carefully signposted so as not to mislead readers. From the many positive responses that we received the Yuletide content was appreciated and its purpose of spreading a smile or two and injecting some humorous relief at a time when there is much gloom and doom in the world of dentistry seems to have been understood. With regard to the 'mixing' point, the BMJ has taken a similar approach for many years and indeed a 'tongue in cheek' paper in its 2017 Christmas issue was even picked up and enjoyed by the main national media. While we are not seeking to copy the BMJ we feel that some dental levity is just as appropriate and were delighted that in our issue, the second of its kind, we published contributions from readers who had been inspired by previous issues. To put this is in another context, the BDJ publishes something of the order of 1,000 pages of editorial content a year; the 'spoof' matter takes up less than 0.01%. I am pleased to be able to reassure Dr Lawrence that we will not be marking the Summer Solstice or any other seasonal celebrations in a similar manner so he may read the rest of the 2018 issues with unguarded belief.