Sebastian Evans

Almost one-third of children and teenagers show dental erosion, a US study has found. Dental researcher Bennett Amaechi of the University of Texas, San Antonio, and colleagues at Indiana University and the University of California at San Francisco examined 900 Texas middle school students ages 10 to 14 and found a 30% prevalence rate of…

UK dental technicians are calling for full disclosure regarding the origin of crowns and dentures. It follows reports in the US of lead poisoning of patients whose dental restorations originated in China. Dental authorities there reacted swiftly to reports of lead found in dental work imported from both China and India – Florida lawmakers are…

The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) is calling on the government to include boys in a planned vaccination programme to guard against the sexually transmitted HPV virus. It’s in response to a new large-scale study in the States of 46,000 mouth cancer cases. It found that the number of deaths caused by the sexually transmitted…

A US dental technician is blazing a trail as one of the world’s first tooth tattooist. Steve Heward is also a trained tattooist and hand paints minute works of art onto crowns. His company, Heward Dental Lab, based in Utah, US, has been established for 20 years and his team of technicians are trained to…

Last month, as part of the VDP’s day release programme, I attended a two-day seminar on NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) given by Dr Brid Hendron. Being somewhat familiar with the area from my psychology days, I was very interested to find out what NLP could do for me and my patients. NLP first emerged in the…

On 6 March at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, Minister for Health, Mary Harney, suggested that the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) could be used to fund orthodontic treatment for patients in some parts of Ireland where there are very long waiting lists. Questioned about using the Fund by Fianna…

After 18 months of research, and with the help of a leading consultant microbiologist, Marks & Spencer has launched Sleep Safe, a new antibacterial nightwear range to help protect against MRSA. The nightwear is made using See It Safe fabric with X-Static silver technology, which is clinically proven to reduce the risk of MRSA. It…

The announcement that the timescale for compliance with new decontamination guidelines in Scotland is under review has been greeted as a ‘first step in the right direction’ by the British Dental Association (BDA). The decision follows lengthy discussions between the BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee (SDPC) and Scottish Government Health Department about the difficulties many…

Almost one-third of children and teenagers show dental erosion, a US study has found. Dental researcher Bennett Amaechi of the University of Texas, San Antonio, and colleagues at Indiana University and the University of California at San Francisco examined 900 Texas middle school students ages 10 to 14 and found a 30% prevalence rate of…

More than 10,000 children with severe dental problems are waiting up to seven years for corrective treatment on the NHS. Orthodontists have warned that in many cases the children suffer from much more serious problems by the time they are finally given treatment. These can include jaw deformities and an inability to bite properly. They…

UK dental technicians are calling for full disclosure regarding the origin of crowns and dentures. It follows reports in the US of lead poisoning of patients whose dental restorations originated in China. Dental authorities there reacted swiftly to reports of lead found in dental work imported from both China and India – Florida lawmakers are…

A smoker had his tongue removed and replaced with part of his arm after he was diagnosed with cancer. Michael LeFort was given just two months to live and had 95% of his tongue cut out in a last-ditch attempt to save his life. Now the 62-year-old says he has hairs on his tongue after…

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace, ex-housemate of TV’s Big Brother, is one of the celebrities heading the national No Smoking Day campaign this Wednesday. ‘Millions of people may have watched me smoke my first-ever cigarette live on Big Brother, but what no one saw was my struggle to quit after the cameras stopped rolling,’ she said. ‘I’d urge…

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace, ex-housemate of TV’s Big Brother, is one of the celebrities heading the national No Smoking Day campaign this Wednesday. ‘Millions of people may have watched me smoke my first-ever cigarette live on Big Brother, but what no one saw was my struggle to quit after the cameras stopped rolling,’ she said. ‘I’d urge…

The cost of a prescription in England will rise to £7\.10 and dental charges are to go up by 30p, the Government has announced. Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo unveiled the 25p increase, which will take effect from April 1. In Wales, however, prescriptions will remain free while in Scotland the charge is being cut…

A new report commissioned by the Patients Association has found problems with funding, prevention work and patient experiences. The NHS is struggling to fund specialist dental treatments in many areas, according to the survey of Primary Care Trusts, and more than half said they had trouble funding crowns, bridges, root canal work and orthodontics. The…

Optident has revealed that it is the sole UK distributor of the Velscope, a breakthrough in the detection of mouth cancer. The launch was held at the company’s headquarters in Ilkley, Leeds, with presentations from Dr Vinod Joshi, founder and chief executive of the Mouth Cancer Foundation, John Pohl, from LED Dental, and David Bloom…

A new study by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) reveals that people with a whiter-than-white smile are perceived smarter than duller-toothed counterparts! The study – carried out in the States via the internet – was aimed at ascertaining what impact attractive teeth have on perceptions of an individual’s appearance and personality and used…

Howard Shultz co-founder of coffee chain Starbucks have created one of the largest and most successful ‘total experience’ outlets ever! It’s original Seattle shop was a few streets away from the world-famous Pike Place Fish Market – and if you haven’t ever read the staff motivational book Fish! then you had better buy it now!…