Sebastian Evans

Far from providing limited career opportunities, dentistry has a wealth of different job avenues that recent graduates can explore. Of course, many people will already know where they want to be, and that is usually in practice. Whether this is prompted by a sense of financial security after a ‘loan-intensive’ spell at university, a desire…

Implantology is now an established discipline in dentistry. It is beyond the experimental stage so that risks can now be calculated and a prognosis made. Standardised impression techniques are now also used in implantology. There are other important aspects to be considered in comparison with taking impressions of prepared teeth. It is particularly important to…

An assessment of the oral health needs of the single homeless population of north and west Belfast has identified significant problems among the patient group. The research, carried out in response to the British Dental Association’s 2004 report Dental Care for Homeless People, discovered that 92% of those examined had obvious signs of gum disease.…

According to a report issued this summer by the Higher Education Authority, every year Irish students travel to the United Kingdom to take up places on courses in higher education institutions. Students apply through the Universities and Colleges Application System (UCAS), a similar system to the CAO. Some high-points courses in Irish universities, including dentistry,…

Chief Dental Officer for England Barry Cockcroft has given the new NHS contract the thumbs-up despite having lost 500 dentists and nearly 50,000 patients in its first year. Dr Cockcroft, speaking exclusively to Dentistry following the publication of the government’s first detailed assessment of its controversial reforms, said the contract provided a ‘sound basis’ for…

The British Dental Association has called for an amnesty on financial clawback against dentists who completed a significant amount – but not the entirety – of their Units of Dental Activity target in 2006-07. In a letter sent to the chief dental officer for England, Dr Barry Cockcroft, the BDA argued that many NHS dentists…

Kevin Lewis reflects on the recent ministerial changes at the Department of Health.   Keen and eager   So now we have it. Patricia Hewitt has taken her last pasting at the hands of the nursing profession, although I must say that in her early media appearances during the silly season, Dawn Primarolo (the new…

John Chope turns to etymology to explain how to avoid the clutches of the GDC professional conduct procedures. Are you feeling lucky?  After reading a clutch of conduct cases being considered for investigation by the GDC recently, I came to the firm conclusion that the key to most of them was to be found in…

New figures have provided further evidence of the problems facing the government’s new contract, according to the British Dental Association. The figures show that patient charge revenue generated £475 million instead of the expected £634 million,* resulting in a shortfall of £159 million in the dental budget. The statistics show that 12 months after the…

The good news is that there are plenty of career opportunities for dental nurses. In my experience, dental nurses have a ‘shelf life’ of approximately 10 years. Of course there are always the exceptions to this, and I take my hat off to those dental nurses, some of whom I know quite well, who have…

‘Have you brushed your teeth, Billy?’ comes the irritated parental voice. A kind of pregnant silence follows. The question comes again but this time there is more irritation. ‘Billy, did you hear me? Have you brushed your teeth, yet?’ “No… not yet, Mum,’ comes the muffled, yet noticeably exasperated, reply. ‘Well, get to it –…

Premature infant births are on the increase. In an editorial published in the British Medical Journal (21 April 2006), Professor Andrew Shennan states that this trend could have a considerable impact on society. Research from Denmark shows a 22% increase in premature births between 1995 and 2004. The researchers predict that this pattern is likely…

Osteoporosis is a global health concern; between 6% and 7% of people world-wide are affected by this disease of the skeletal system. The International Osteoporosis Federation reports that it affects an estimated 75 million people across Europe, the USA and Japan (EFFO and NOF, 1997). Around one in three women and one in seven men…

I am fortunate to work within a team of like-minded individuals who embrace change and enjoy the new challenges that dentistry brings. Over the last decade the role of the hygienist has moved from a traditional, segmented department to the life-blood of the practice. That’s not to say that hygiene was not considered vital to…

Xerostomia is defined as a subjective complaint of dry mouth that may result from a decrease in the production of saliva (Guggenheimer J, Moore PA, 2003). It is a relatively common complaint, affecting approximately 10% of the general population (Fox RI, 2006). The prevalence rises both as the number of prescription medications taken increases and…

Without proper education, training and understanding in the area of infection control, the dental team and the public are at risk of potential disease transmission as a result of dental treatment. A survey undertaken in 2006 of 96 unqualified dental nurses in Ireland revealed that the majority were trained in infection control procedures by a…

Periodontal therapy involves the removal of calculus and biofilm. A variety of instruments are available to us for this. In recent years there has been much talk of using slimmer ultrasonic tips to debride sub-gingivally. Ultrasonic describes a non-audible range of acoustical vibrations that are a unit of frequency referred to as cycles per second…

As health professionals, we do not expect to come across malnutrition and nutritional deficiency often in daily practice. The typical understanding of these terms often conjures up images of underweight and starving individuals. From an oral health standpoint, examples of scurvy and pernicious anaemia are often used as the oral manifestation of deficiency symptoms. In…

In my experience, colleagues have expressed anxiety in the management of medical emergencies in the dental surgery. Proper training and simulated emergencies can lessen the dental team’s anxiety toward medical emergencies and allow them to be prepared. What is the role of a dental nurse in the management of a medical emergency? The dental team’s…