What you’ve missed this week

Missed out on this week’s dental news? No problem, here’s what happened over the past seven days…

GDC warns more than 2,000 DCPs about outstanding CPD with a week until deadline

CPD

More than 2,000 dental care professionals have not submitted their CPD statement with less than a week to go, the GDC claims.

The dental regulator says registrants could drop off the register if they do not submit their statement by 28 August.

In total the GDC is waiting on 2,187 DCPs to submit their 150 hours of CPD to complete their five-year cycle.

Vaping increases chances of developing mouth cancer

vaping

Vaping could increase the chances of developing oral cancer, a new study from the University of Minnesota has found.

The study found vaping increases levels of DNA-damaging chemicals, such as formaldehyde, acrolein and methylglyoxal, in saliva.

Exposure to these chemicals increases the risks associated with oral cancer.

The popularity of e-cigarettes is continuing to rise, with a recent study showing 2.9 million people vape in Britain.

HPV infection rates lower than expected

HPV

HPV infection rates in England are lower than expected, the University of Sheffield has discovered.

The study found 2.2% of people in England have the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Previous studies in Scotland and the USA found infection rates to be at around 3.7%.

This news comes after it was announced the HPV vaccine will be extended to include boys aged 12 to 13 in England.

The profession’s thoughts on finances in dentistry

Braemar Finance continues to delve into dentists’ views on a range of key subjects, from access to finance to their key sources of financial advice and support.

Aileen Boyle compares and contrasts the thoughts of UK dentists with those in Ireland to find out where the similarities and differences lie.

The flexible and affordable way to purchase dental equipment

There is a new was of purchasing dental equipment for your practice.

Hague Dental, in cooperation with Medifinance have launched Hague Financial Solutions – a flexible and affordable way of financing new dental equipment.

Hague Financial Solutions allows dentists to get new equipment for their practice on contract purchase; a similar arrangement to PCP contracts widely used to finance motor vehicles, meaning that at the end of five years you can simply hand the equipment back and Hague Dental will pay the residual balance for you or enter a new agreement for new equipment all over again.

How is the UK’s oral health changing?

Chris Moffatt looks behind the headlines to see if the UK’s oral health is really that bad.

With the introduction of the sugar tax and calls for tighter control on junk food advertising, health awareness is a hot topic.

But newspapers and websites regularly feature horror stories about our ‘oral health crisis’ with ‘170 youngsters a day [having] teeth extracted’ due to excessive sugars in their diet.

So Chris is sorting the facts from the fake news and takes a look at the data on UK oral health – are things getting better, or worse?

And what does this mean for dentistry?

Calls in Oxfordshire for better access to dentistry in care homes

care homes

Healthwatch Oxfordshire is calling for better access to dental treatment for residents in care home.

The calls come after a new report found a number of hurdles to accessing a dentist in care homes, including:

  • A lack of visiting NHS dentists
  • Poor access to dental surgeries
  • Lack of transport and staff to get to the dentist
  • A feeling by care home staff that dentists are unwilling to treat patients with dementia or with a learning disability.

Catch up on last week’s news here.

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