Sebastian Evans

Sir Paul Beresford MP for Mole Valley successfully secured an adjournment debate on Wednesday 23 May 2007 in the House of Commons, where he voiced his concerns to Health Minister Rosie Winterton in light of new guidance about infectivity of variant Creutzfeldt – Jakob disease (vCJD). Preliminary research on mice indicated a possible risk of…

A number of organisations have confirmed that the dental corporate group Oasis Healthcare has been offered a takeover bid worth 82p a share from private equity group Duke Street Capital. Oasis Healthcare, the corporate that owns more than 130 dental practices in England and Wales, providing a both NHS and private dentistry now has to…

Following on from recent comments by the Chief Dental Officer, Dr Barry Cockcroft, that ‘root canal instruments should not be re-used because of a possible risk to patients of vCJD, The Dental Directory has reduced the price of its endodontic range by up to 25%. With prices as low as £2.95 per pack of six…

Behavioural change has to occur in two arenas for it to work. The first is in the minds of the health care professionals. The vast majority are still working in the old ways; the ways of treating disease rather than maintaining or creating true health, and the ways of treating patients as numbers whilst working…

The value of a UDA varies significantly from dentist to dentist and although the BDA league table of average UDA values is presented with a caveat regarding its accuracy, it still poses some interesting questions. Why is the average UDA value in Sheffield West £36 while in Durham and Chester Le Street it’s only £14?…

The Anglo-Asian Odontological Group (AOG) recently voted in Dr Nadeem Zafar as their new President for 2007-2008. Dr Zafar said, “I look forward to building on the phenomenal work done by our outgoing President of 2 years, Dr Rishi Mehrotra, and taking the AOG forward in being recognised as a leading dental organisation for social,…

Peter Clark writes to Kevin Lewis about practice expenses and how the contracts may not weigh up. Dear Kevin, Methinks you protest to much in focusing on the increased costs to GDP’s of replacing endodontic files and reamers. What worries me is not the mythical future increase in my contract value due to the increased…

A large part of preparing for your finals is dealing with patients – after all, in just a few months you will be expected to deal with them every day and although you will have the support of your VT trainer, for the most part you will be on your own. This is why the…

Access to dentistry for members of the armed forces is improving, government figures suggest. The number of uniformed dentists employed by the Defence Dental Service (DDS) remained static at 250 almost every year from 1997 to 2006, the Ministry of Defence data shows. Over the same period, however, the number of servicemen and women has…

In my empirical opinion, one of the most important components of creating great endodontic results is applying an unconditional mental focus to treatment and applying the skills and talents the clinician has without distraction to the task at hand. I believe that many clinicians could perform treatment worthy of hanging in a museum if they…

Investment risk can be hard to define. For most people risk is the possibility that they will lose money on their savings, but there is also the risk that your investments will not grow fast enough to meet your needs. This can be a serious problem if you are trying to build up your savings,…

Dentists were urged to become involved in local development plans and influence the local commissioning agenda at this year’s British Dental Conference and Exhibition. That was the message delegates heard at the event in Harrogate, which attracted 3,376 people from across the UK. In a wide-ranging conference address, the chair of the British Dental Association’s…

A dentist who lied about his clinical experience on his CV has been banned from practising for a year. Vishwadev Anand, of North Oxford, gave a presentation on oral surgery to an audience full of postgraduates and oral surgeons at the Thames Four Pillars Hotel in Sandford-on-Thames, but the delegates became suspicious about the contents…

While at the BDA Conference on Friday last week, George Manolescue (Managing Director of Dental Business Solutions) takes a few minutes to speak to Julian English (Executive Editor of Dentistry Magazine) about his thoughts on the state of the dental contracts. Due to loud background noise at the conference, the questions are hard to hear.…

The majority of Britons would be happy to let someone else use their toothbrush, according to a recent UK survey. The results of the National Smile Month Survey, commissioned by the British Dental Health Foundation in association with Healthplan provider HSA, showed that over 60% of people would be willing to let their partners, children,…

China is investigating claims that toothpaste contaminated with a potentially lethal chemical has been exported to Central America. The Dominican Republic has banned the sale of two Chinese-made brands of toothpaste imported through Panama. Thousands of tubes of the toothpaste have now been confiscated in both countries. Authorities claim that, following tests, the toothpaste contains…

New figures have revealed that Carlisle’s 23,000-strong waiting list for an NHS dental place has finally been cleared. Since the height of the crisis last year, enough new places have been created to wipe out the city’s huge backlog. The news coincides with the official opening of a new practice in Penrith, which will eventually…

An extract of cocoa powder that occurs naturally in chocolates and teas might be an effective natural alternative to fluoride in toothpaste, according to a study in America. Tulane University doctoral candidate Arman Sadeghpour’s research revealed that the cocoa extract was even more effective than fluoride in fighting cavities. The extract, a white crystalline powder…

Dr Josef Rich OBE will be installed as the 120th President of the British Dental Association (BDA) today. The installation ceremony will take place at the start of the 2007 British Dental Conference and Exhibition in Harrogate. He will serve a 12-month term of office. Born and educated in Manchester, Joe Rich studied at the…