Left to right: Mike Wheeler, President of BSDHT; Dame Margaret Seward, Honorary Graduate of Portsmouth University; Sarah Enderby, Graduate; Anna Wilby-Lopez, Graduate; Sarah Hartridge, Clinical Director; Sara Holmes, Education Director

It promises to be a long time before the record set by Anna Wilby-Lopez will be broken. When she arrived for the Graduation Awards Ceremony at the School of Professionals Complementary to Dentistry in Portsmouth. Anna, with 19 colleagues, was graduating with BSc (Hons) in Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy, not only collecting three top awards for outstanding clinical performance and the highest marks in certain case presentations, but also thrilling the audience with the appearance of her son Edward at his first dental event, having made his entrance into the world only 24 hours previously – a fact Meridian TV were quick to report on air!

The coveted British Dental Association Prize was awarded to Sarah Enderby for the highest academic achievement in all parts of the programme.

Innovations continue at Portsmouth University because in 2010, the DCP school will be linked to the new £9 million dental centre where final year students from King's College London will undertake ten-week supervised clinical placements providing treatment for adults and children.