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Table of contents

October 4-10, 2010

PUBLISHED IN LONDON
News in Brief
Britons shun invasive
smile makeovers
Dentists are now performing
far less veneer procedures
than they were two years
ago according to the BACD.
Less invasive techniques,
such as quick-result braces,
are on the rise as patients try
to preserve their natural teeth.
The survey found that half of
all cosmetic dentists named
the Inman Aligner, a removable brace, as the first choice
in quick-result braces. Other
high scorers were the Invisalign brace, which 22 per cent
of dentists placed top, and
the Clearstep or Six-Month
Smiles, which one in seven
said was the top performer.
Lose weight with milk
The
American
Journal
of Clinical Nutrition has
found that milk drinkers
lose more weight than people who do not drink milk.
Regardless of an individual’s
diet, the study showed that
people who had the highest intake of calcium from
dairy products had a greater chance at losing weight.
However, milk is not just
beneficial for those who
wish to lose weight. Dental
health experts have emphasised for many years that
milk and water are the only
two safe drinks, when considering good oral health.
ADA ignore EPA’s mercury
warning
Today, environmental groups
applauded EPA’s announcement to propose a new rule
requiring dentists to reduce
mercury pollution.
“Dentists are the largest polluter
of mercury to wastewater,”
said Michael Bender, director
of the Mercury Policy Project
and a steering committee
member of the National Mercury Products Campaign.
Twelve states have mandated
best management practices
and amalgam separators at
dental clinics, which can
eliminate 95 per cent -99 per
cent of dental mercury releases to wastewater. The EPA’s
website states that: ‘When
amalgam enters the water,
microorganisms can change
it into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in
fish. Methylmercury is a welldocumented neurotoxicant,
which can cause adverse effects on the developing brain.”
Unfortunately, the American
Dental Association continues
to ignore the latest science on
mercury from EPA’s website,
and they say that: “Dental
amalgam has little effect on
the environment... [and] this
amount is not in the form [of
mercury] found in fish, which
is the greatest concern.”
www.dental-tribune.co.uk

News

Business Managment
Tribune

AOG

Total Trek

Orthodontists take part in 10
mile hike

page 2

VOL. 4 NO. 24

Back to Indiaaaah!

Take a trip to India with the
AOG

page 8

Clinical

Laser beams

The Question

Michael Lansdell thinks incorporation

Dr Flax reports on laser evolution in dental care

pages 13

pages 26-29

Call me Dr, Dentist Dr

British Dental Association survey results show overwhelming
clinician support for use of the courtesy title Dr

F

our-fifths of dentists think
it is appropriate to continue to use the courtesy
title of ‘Dr’ according to a poll
carried out by the British Dental
Association (BDA). The survey,
which was carried out as part
of a discussion hosted on the

fused by the use of the title. The
practice of referring to dentists
in this way is long-established
overseas and is also now firmly
embedded in the UK.”
However, the call has sparked
a row with medical doctors who

‘It is clear from the contributions to this
forum that, as long as it is made clear that
the individual in question is a dentist,
patients do not seem to be confused by the
use of the title.’
communities section of the BDA
website between late July and
early September, attracted high
levels of interest, being viewed
more than 2,800 times.
The results of the poll will
be used to emphasise the profession’s concerns in the BDA’s
formal response to the General
Dental Council’s consultation
on the issue.
“This issue has generated
unprecedented levels of interest from contributors to the
BDA’s
online
communities.
Participants have sent a very
strong signal about their wish
to continue using the title Dr.
We have listened to them and
will convey the strength of
that feeling to the GDC in our
response to its consultation on
this issue,” Dr Susie Sanderson,
Chair of the BDA’s Executive
Board, said.
“It is clear from the contributions to this forum that, as long
as it is made clear that the individual in question is a dentist,
patients do not seem to be con-

object to the title, as dentists
could mislead patients about the
extent of their expertise. As was
witnessed earlier this month, a
dentist was ordered by the Advertising Standards Authority
(ASA) to remove the title of ‘Dr’
from their name as they failed to
have a medical qualification or
a PhD.
Even so, dentists from around
the country still insist that the
use of the term ‘Dr’ would not
confuse patients, implying that
it would actually bring Britain
in line with the rest of Europe,
where the title is commonplace.
“We believe that dentists
should be permitted to use the
courtesy title ‘Dr’ should they
wish and provided that it is not
done in a way which might mislead patients as to their qualifications,” said Peter Ward, the
chief executive of the British
Dental Association (BDA).
However, Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association’s consultants
committee, called for dentists to

be banned from using the term,
to protect patient safety. “Patients have a right to clarity and
to be secure in the knowledge
that the person treating them is
competent and qualified to do
so,” he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “The title of
“Doctor” is not a protected title,
so you don’t have to be a medical practitioner to use it.”

While dentists are not prohibited entirely from calling
themselves Dr, the ASA says that
to do so without also making
it obvious that they are not doctors is a clear breach of advertising laws.

He added, however, that
there was a provision in the
Dentists Act 1984, which prevented dentists from using any
title or description to suggest a
qualification that they did not
poses; however, he said that it
was up to the General Dental
Council to enforce that rule. DT

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Alternatively visit us at Stand M10
Finance approval is subject to status
Braemar Finance, Braemar House, Olympic Business Park, Dundonald, KA2 9BE
Tel: 01563 852100
www.braemarfinance.co.uk
Fax: 01563 852111
info@braemarfinance.co.uk

[2] =>

2 News

United Kingdom Edition

October 4-10, 2010

Local orthodontists trek their way to £3000

I

n the midst of some of the
most beautiful views of the
south, 50 employees from
Total Orthodontics pulled on
their walking boots and put on
their shades as they headed out
into the sunshine to take part in
a 10 mile trek across the South
Downs to raise £3000 for Hospice in the Weald.
The group of specialist orthodontists, who have been
straightening the smiles of Sussex and Kent for more than 10
years, took part in the walk in
memory of a much loved member of their team, Jenny Brunger,
who sadly lost her battle against
cancer earlier this year.
Jenny was cared for by Hospice in the Weald, which provides specialist palliative care,
advice and clinical support for
people with life limiting illness,
their families and the bereaved.
With the cost for the average
length of stay for a patient being

£3000, the money the orthodontics raised was most definitely
going to help.
Setting off from Arundel,
the team made their way along
the river to Amberely, where a
much deserved pub lunch was
waiting for them. However, the
food and drink wasn’t the only
thing that kept up the groups’
moral – much to the teams’
amusement,
Director
John
Costello emerged from the pub
dressed as a reindeer, a costume he had previously donned
for the group’s Christmas party! Having laughed their way
through lunch, the team trekked
their way back to Arundel, albeit
at a much slower pace, where
everyone finished off the day
with a well-deserved drink at
the Black Rabbit.
Amanda Wyatt, Corporate
and Community Fundraiser for
Hospice in the Weald, said: “We
very much appreciate Total Or-

thodontics choosing to support
the hospice by organising and
taking part in the Total Trek and
would like to thank everyone for
their hard work and support. As
the hospice has to raise £4m this
year and only receives 10 per
cent core funding it is vital that
companies and members of the
community support us so the
hospice can continue to provide
all its services to the patients
and their families”.
As most events go though,
the day wasn’t without injury!
Assistant Operations Manager Dionne Ward slipped from
a rope swing, breaking two
bones in her leg. However,
the money the group raised
was sure to bring a smile to
her face.
Alice Clarke, Marketing Executive, said: “It was far harder
than a lot of us had envisaged
and there were some very achy
legs the next day! It was more

The team at Total Orthodontics after their charity trek

than worth it though, everyone
was in great spirits and nearly
the entire company were there
to show their support, with only
a few members of the team staying behind to hold the fort.”
Kirsten Heasman, Accounts
Assistant, said: “Not only were
we raising money for a brilliant cause but the day provided
a great opportunity for staff from

our different practices to get to
know each other. The walk was
tough but very rewarding and
the South Downs provided a
stunning backdrop.”
At the end of the day, the trek
was a great success: Exceeding their fundraising target the
group of orthodontists are hoping to plan something even bigger and better next year. DT

Oral & maxillofacial surgeon awarded first joint research fellowship

T

he first joint training
research fellowship has
been awarded to Mr
Andrew Schache, an oral &
maxillofacial surgical trainee
in Liverpool, by the Faculty of
Dental Surgery at the Royal
College of Surgeons and the
Wellcome Trust to further his
research into the role of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in
mouth and throat cancer.
Mr Schache, a Specialist
Registrar at University Hospital Aintree and the University
of Liverpool, has been given
joint research fellowship of
£179,707 to conduct a two-year
project investigating the best test
for HPV positive cancers and to
improve targeted, individualised treatment.

Reflecting a shared interest in improving human health
and patient care, Prof Jonathan Shepherd, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Chair of
the Faculty of Dental Surgery
Research Committee at the
Royal College of Surgeons said:
“The Faculty of Dental Surgery
at the Royal College of Surgeons
is committed to continuous
investment in surgical research
with the aim of improving
the diagnosis, treatment and
prevention of dental and orofacial conditions.”
Working in partnership with
the Wellcome Trust for the first

time, The Faculty of Dental
Surgery at the Royal College of
Surgeons aims to achieve more
research and encourage dental
specialties.
Dr John Williams, Head of
Clinical Activities at the Wellcome Trust, said: “The Welcome Trust is dedicated to
achieving improvements in human health and so is delighted
to be working in partnership
with the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of
Surgeons to support research
improving the understanding of
dental and oral diseases.”
On receiving his award, Mr
Andrew Schache said: “I am
grateful to the Royal College
of Surgeons and the Wellcome
Trust for their support so that
I can continue my research
into the role of HPV in oral and
oropharyngeal cancer.
“With incidence rates increasing in the UK it feels
timely to be investigating this
aggressive disease and I hope
that my research will go some
way to help clinicians better
individualise treatment for patients.”
Head and neck cancer is
the sixth commonest cancer
worldwide with 500,000 cases
diagnosed each year, and oral
and oropharyngeal squamous
cell carcinoma makes up the

majority of those cases. In the
UK, rates of mouth and throat
cancer are steadily increasing
despite a reduction in tobacco smoking. Recent international research has linked the
Human Papilloma Virus, most
commonly associated with cervical cancer, to the development
of oral and oropharyngeal
cancer.
As part of on-going work
to help patients with facial deformity, Miss Rishma Shah,
Clinical Lecturer at UCL Eastman Dental Institute and
Hospital, has also been awarded a 2010 Faculty of Dental
Surgery Research Fellowship to
support her research into facial
muscle tissue.
Several
Smaller
Grants
Scheme prizes have also
been awarded this year to
further clinical research: the
causes of cleft palate, oral health
in hospital in-patients, the molecular biology of periodontal
disease,
and
new
filling
materials are among the re
search topics.
For further information
about the Grants, Awards
and Fellowships awarded by
the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons
please
visit:
http://
w w w. r c s e n g . a c . u k / f d s /
g r a n t s - awa r d s - a n d - f e l l ow ships. DT

Published by Dental Tribune UK Ltd
© 2010, Dental Tribune UK Ltd.
All rights reserved.

Dental Tribune UK Ltd makes every
effort to report clinical information and
manufacturer’s product news accurately,
but cannot assume responsibility for

the validity of product claims, or for
typographical errors. The publishers also
do not assume responsibility for product
names or claims, or statements made by
advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors
are their own and may not reflect those of
Dental Tribune International.

Group Editor
Lisa Townshend
Tel: 020 7400 8979
Lisa@dentaltribuneuk.com
Managing Director
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Mash@dentaltribuneuk.com
Director
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Noam@dentaltribuneuk.com

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Laura..hatton@dentaltribuneuk.com Ellen@dentaltribuneuk.com

Dental Tribune UK Ltd
4th Floor, Treasure House, 19–21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8BA

[3] =>

News 3

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Editorial comment
I am just back from
Cardiff where Smileon has celebrated
another
milestone
in its 10-year history
with the official opening of a second office,
located in the Welsh
capital. The event was attended
by both the CMO and CDO of
Wales, Dr Tony Jewell and Dr
Paul Langmaid respectively.

in Wales and projects going forward to help improve the oral
health of the Welsh population.
The interview will be in Dental
Tribune in an upcoming issue –
keep an eye out!
As the beginning of registration with the CQC comes bearing
down on the profession, there is
still much confusion and anger

amongst dental professionals.
The BDA has written a letter
to the CQC requesting a meeting
to help get clarity from the new
regime that it says ‘lacks proportionality and fails to accord with
the general principle of simpler
regulation, that is, the avoidance
of duplicated effort and multiple
jeopardy’.

This may be over-sensationalising the situation, but it is clear
that practices are not getting the
new regulations. I hope that the
CQC and the profession can deal with the
confusion and make
it easy for practices to
adhere with the latest
regulations. DT

Do you have an opinion or something to say on any Dental Tribune
UK article? Or would you like to
write your own opinion for our
guest comment page?
If so don’t hesitate to write to:
The Editor,
Dental Tribune UK Ltd,
4th Floor, Treasure House,
19-21 Hatton Garden,
London, EC1 8BA
Or email:
lisa@dentaltribuneuk.com

Effective enamel defence.
Superior plaque control.*
Combined.

In true journalistic fashion I
‘collared’ Dr Langmaid and asked
him about the state of dentistry

B2A Unity
Programme

ridge2Aid, the dental and
community development
charity working in the
Mwanza region of North West
Tanzania, have announced the
launch of their new ‘Unity Partnership’ for dental practices and
businesses at BDTA Showcase.

W
E
N

The concept of the Unity Partnership is based upon the realisation that significant benefits,
in terms of public profile and
perception, will accrue to those
dentists and dental practices involved in the Dental Volunteer
Programme, where UK dentists
work on a one-to-one basis with
a Tanzanian Clinical Officer
delivering an effective proven
programme of training in emergency dentistry. The Clinical Officers are then equipped with
instrumentation and sterilisation
equipment by Bridge2Aid, and
supervised by a government District Dental Officer.
In order to be recognised as
a Unity Partner, dental practices
commit to the financial support
of the training of a Clinical Officer. This investment covers the
cost of training and equipping a
Clinical Officer to serve a community of around 10,000 people
and the ongoing supervision of
their work.
Bridge2Aid’s CEO Mark Topley said: “We are very excited
about the potential benefits the
Unity Partnership can bring to all
concerned. Many of our dental
supporters have already testified
to the rewards they have gained
from working with us.
“The partnership will enable us to secure training for
communities and extend B2A’s
work throughout Tanzania.”
More details and the founder
members will be announced
at a launch press conference
At Bridge2Aid/A-dec’s stand
Q04, 11am on Friday 15th
October at Lodon Dental Showcase Excel. DT

Choosing a mouthrinse has often meant

to formulations with twice the fluoride.1,2 Add

choosing between effective enamel

this to its ability to kill bacteria associated with

protection and effective plaque reduction.

dental caries3,4 and reduce plaque by up to

Until now. New Listerine Total Care Enamel

52% more than mechanical methods alone5

Guard contains 225 ppm fluoride with high

and you can see why you should consider

uptake and comparable re-hardening in vitro

adding it to certain patients’ oral care routines.

TOTAL CARE ENAMEL GUARD
All-round protection for enamel
05849
*Superior to other daily-use mouthwashes
1. Study 103-0193. Data on file 1, McNEIL-PPC, Inc. 2. Study 103-0196. Data on file 2, McNEIL-PPC, Inc. 3. Tanzer JM et al. J Dent Ed 2004; 65(10): 1028-37.
4. Data on file A, McNEIL-PPC, Inc. 5. Sharma NC et al. J Am Dent Assoc 2004; 135: 496-504.

03024_ocdlis_Dent_Tribune_WP_A4_fa1b.indd 1

6/24/10 3:22 PM

[4] =>

4 News

United Kingdom Edition

October 4-10, 2010

Spending cuts see 1,700 job losses
A
ccording
to
reports,
1,700 members of NHS
staff will be axed as part
of government spending cuts.
The Department of Health has
not officially announced the job
losses; however, they did regard
any changes as “temporary”.

prioritisation public health and
preventative work. That’s why
we’ve already committed to introduce a Public Health Service
with ring-fenced budget and local health improvement led by
Directors of Public Health in local authorities.

A spokesman for the DH
said; “We are reshaping and
improving public health strategies. There will be plenty of opportunities and jobs to be done
in both national and locally-led
public health service.

“National Support Team programmes and departmentallyfunded regional public health
posts run until the end of this
financial year with future funding subject to the outcome of the
Spending Review.”

“The Government is committed to increasing the health
budget in each year of this Parliament. We will spend that
money wisely, including the

However, what hasn’t been
explained is why members of
staff affected by the cuts were
notified by post in June about
the job cuts. According to re-

ports, the letters claimed that
changes to NHS priorities in
light of the increasing government deficit may cause them to
be at risk of redundancy.

Health Minister, Andrew
Lansley, is planning significant
changes to the NHS in a bid to
make it a more effective and
efficient service. As a result of
the changes, the staff involved
in the programmes will probably lose their jobs; this news
was confirmed by a document
published on the department’s
intranet system, which revealed
that funding for programme
budgets would be stopped.
It is believed that the members of staff affected were em-

ployed to work on a number
of health projects, including
reducing obesity and encouraging sensible drinking. The
professionals, including specialist doctors, dentists, nurses,
dieticians, nutritionists and psychologists were hired to work
alongside civil servants to implement important new programmes.
The team were employed
to work at the Department of
Health offices in London and
other parts of the country;
they were working to reduce
the amount of money spent
by the NHS by improving general health and reducing the burden caused by obesity, poor diet,
alcoholism and smoking.

The human resources department of the DoH claims that
around two thousand members
of staff will be affected by the
cuts; only 300 of these are protected because they are civil
servants employed on specific
programmes.
The Department of Health
said the budget for public health
programmes is being reduced
to make more money available
for front-line services and direct patient care; however, critics have slammed the move,
claiming that investment should
be focused on cutting costs in
the future by tackling serious health problems including obesity, regular drinking
and smoking. DT

Dentistry firms unite for charity

lthough Christmas may
still be only just on the
horizon, a number of the
dental companies have come together to create a unique set of

Christmas cards for the dental
charity, Bridge2Aid.
The tailor-made cards are
designed by plan provider Prac-

tice Plan Ltd. After being created
through a brainstorming session in 2009 by the Bridge2Aid
Corporate Friends, the Christmas cards most definitely have

a unique look, and with all the
proceeds going to helping the
people of Tanzania, the Christmas cards are a refreshing
change – forget traditional snow
scenes, these cards have a worthwhile purpose!
The Bridge2Aid Corporate
Friends, which includes A-dec
(UK), Dentsply, Henry Schein
Minerva, Practice Plan and
Schulke, discussed how, as a
group, they could work collectively to raise funds and awareness for the worthwhile charity.
They met to discuss a number

of initiatives, including how to
raise funds over the festive period, and as a result the unique
card idea was formed. Styles,
packaging and marketing were
all discussed and now Practice
Plan can excitedly reveal the
unique African Christmas cards.
The cards cost £3.49 for a
pack of 10, and all proceeds go
directly to Bridge2Aid, which in
turn goes straight towards helping the people of Tanzania.
Visit http://www.bridge2aid.
org/cm/news/529 for further information. DT

AHA reveals smokeless tobacco danger

he American Heart Association (AHA) has revealed some shocking results with regards to smokeless
tobacco products.
Their statement notes that
smokeless tobacco products are
not safe alternatives to smoking
because they are associated with
heart attacks, strokes and certain
cancers. They have also suggested
that due to the marketing of these
products, smokeless tobacco products may initiate further tobacco
use and perpetuate smoking.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare, a leader in
helping smokers quit and the
marketer of nicotine replacement
therapy (NRT) products, supports
the findings of the American
Heart Association (AHA).
Tobacco
use,
including
smokeless tobacco, is the largest
cause of preventable death and
disease in the world. The proven
way to reduce these health conse-

quences is to stop using tobacco
completely.
Even though NRT products
have helped millions of people
around the world quit smoking
and, as a result, reduced their exposure to the risks of cancer and
other smoking-related diseases,
there are still concerns with regards to further health risks.
While the FDA is the final authority on the labelling of NRT
products sold in the US, GSK
Consumer Healthcare is committed to continuing to work with
medical and clinical experts and
the FDA to ensure that consumers have the best possible chance
to quit smoking.
With quitting smoking being
the single most important step
smokers can take to improve
their health, the development
of innovative new products and
support systems to improve the
quit experience, without further
health risks, is vital. DT

[5] =>

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[6] =>

6 News

United Kingdom Edition

GDPUK Roundup

The GDPUK online community discusses the upcoming conference in Manchester and regulatory issues. Tony Jacob has more

are looking forwaard to the
ith more than 9,000
upcoming
GDPUK
Conferdifferent
colleagues
ence in Manchester (see http://
visiting the site durw w w. g d p u k . c o m / C o n f e r ing the month, GDPUK is busence2010). Concerns about the
ier than ever in the autumn and
msc_ad_source_uk.pdf
1
03/08/2009
15:21:59
CQC and
HTM 01-05 continue to
colleagues
reading the forum

dominate discussions; these
are clearly the topics at the top
of the agenda for all dentists.
For many reasons, the enhanced Criminal Record Bureau

check for dentists demanded by
the CQC has raised ire amongst
forum members. CQC speakers have always stressed that the
role of the registration was to
protect the public with regard to

October 4-10, 2010

the premises – are they safe for
the public and are processes and
procedures correct? - In other
words, regulating the provider.
The GDC remains responsible
for making sure the public is
treated and cared for by suitably
qualified professionals, the performers. So why the CQC needs
to make all dentists have a further
CRB check is questioned. All the
forms necessary for this must be
taken personally, by every single
dentist, together with passport,
photos and further proof of identity to a Crown Post Office. There
are only 27 of these Post Offices
in England, and many dentists
will have to spend time travelling and queuing at that office,
possibly a full day. For example,
for the whole of Yorkshire, about
two thousand dentists, there is
one such Crown Office, in Leeds.
Imagine the queues if all 2,000
visited on one day! As one senior
notable colleague wrote in the forum “what sort of moron sits in
their glass palace in Westminster
and thinks up ideas like this?”
Back to the HTM 01-05 document that continues to dog the
profession: One concern has been
that washer disinfectors, in their
final heat cycle, bake proteins
(onto) only stainless steel instruments. In letters to colleagues in
response to specific enquiries,
the DH are now rebutting this,
having commissioned research
at the University of London. This
research will be published in
due course. Some GDPUK correspondents still believe that it is
best not to buy or use one of those
machines, not needed to reach
“essential requirements” but required to reach “best practice”.
In the same vein, a dentist
wrote (in a dental discussion in
another dental publication) that
after 35 years in practice the latest wave of regulations, paperwork and interference were too
much, and retirement beckoned
- even though the dentist insisted he enjoys his daily work, and
finds helping patients daily to be
rewarding. I found it uncomfortable to read that so many agreed
with his sentiments.
Creating new documents for
consent to various procedures
have been discussed, and will
be shared in the files section
of GDPUK. Apparently, when
questions about this are put to
lawyers, these days, they insist that risk of death is placed
as the number one risk at the
start of all these documents. Patients could have a reaction to
local anaesthetic, and this reaction could ultimately be fatal, so
perhaps this warning should
be to all dental consent
documents? Would you be comfortable warning every patient
of this?
That is a sobering thought for
us all. DT

[7] =>

News 7

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010
Tribune_aug:Precision

18/8/10

10:30

Page 1

Patient protection and value
for money focus for GDC

he General Dental Council has spelt out its priorities in its new corporate
strategy, highlighting patient
protection and value for money
as its key aims.
The
strategy
2010-2014
commits the GDC to delivering
its regulatory functions as efficiently and effectively as possible. Being the end result of
months of hard work by the restructured Council, which took
office in October last year, the
strategy was launched online on
the 23rd September 2010.
Recognising the importance
of strong relationships with a
wide range of people and organisations, the strategy sets out
clear aims, putting patients at
the heart of the GDC’s thinking.
Chair Alison Lockyer said:
“This is an important step forward for the GDC in explaining
its purpose, values, aims and
objectives clearly and concisely
to registrants and the public.
Council members have shown

their dedication and determination to drive forward change
in order to further improve the
GDC. We have re-affirmed our
commitment to protecting patients and regulating the dental
team - As the strategy says: This
is why we exist.”
The strategy defines the
GDC’s values when it comes to
delivering regulation and governing the organisation:
• Regulation is proportionate,
targeted, consistent, transparent
and accountable
• Policy is developed on the basis
of consultation and evidence
• Resources are managed effectively, efficiently and sustainably
• Decision-making is collective,
robust and accountable
• Leadership of the organisation
is strategic and ethical
• Equality and diversity is embedded in our policies, systems
and processes
• Management of people is open,
fair and constructive
Alison adds: “It is important

to highlight our ongoing drive to
deliver value for money. We recognise that the money we spend
comes from the dental professionals who register with us. We
will work hard to ensure that the
burden we place on registrants
is proportionate and fair, both
financially and administratively.
We will be successful if we ensure that the annual retention
fee is set at the minimum rate to
enable us to fulfil our statutory
purpose.”
Each regulatory function
– Standards, Registration, Fitness to Practise and Education/
Quality
Assurance/Revalidation - has a set of objectives.
Alongside these objectives, are
success indicators, to which
the Council will be held accountable. A common theme
throughout all the functions
is driving up performance
on dealing with fitness to practise policy, processes and outcomes. DT

These hour-long seminars
take place at this year’s BDTA
Dental Showcase at ExCel
London and will be hosted by
Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer,
Roger Matthews and Deputy
Chief Dental Officer, Henry Clover. They offer one hour’s CPD
and are to be held in the North-

ern Gallery Room 8 (situated
above the main exhibition hall)
at the following times:
Thursday 14 October - 11.00am
or 2.00pm
Friday 15 October - 11.00am or
2.00pm
Saturday 16 October - 11.00am
Roger Matthews commented: “Applications for CQC registration will commence on 16th
November 2010 and by 31st
December 2010 all practices
in England, whether private or
NHS, will need to have submitted their applications. In order
to ensure the registration proc-

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found at www.gdc-uk.org

Denplan to host CQC seminars at BDTA
s one of the most talked
about topics within the
dental industry draws
closer, Denplan is inviting
members to attend a short seminar addressing the application
process for registration with
the Care Quality Commission.

Excellent Quality
Excellent Value

ess goes smoothly for Denplan
members, we have produced a
range of support materials to
assist them, including a ‘plain
English’ guide to the application, which is available through
Denplan Online Services.
“We’ll also address how
Denplan Excel and the Denplan
Quality Programmes support
the CQC Essential Standards.”

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To attend, please register with the Denplan Events
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co.uk. DT

Mouth cancer awareness takes a walk

ith nearly 8,000 people
being diagnosed with
Mouth Cancer every
year, it is vital to generate a high
level of public awareness. The
Mouth Cancer Foundation has
therefore once again provided
free mouth cancer screening to
the public at the annual Mouth
Cancer 10km Awareness Walk.
The specialist screening team
was provided by the Department
of Community Special Care Dentistry, King’s College London
and lead by members of the Oral
Medicine Department of the Eastman Dental Institute.
The ‘Awareness Walk’, which
had its biggest level of success
in five years, screened 132 peo-

ple and 6 were advised to see a
dentist or a doctor for referral to
a specialist for further investigation, as participants visited the
screening unit during the walk.
The founder of the Mouth
Cancer Foundation Dr Joshi said:
“A common story many mouth
cancer patients can relate to is
that they were diagnosed late.
Early diagnosis dramatically increases survival rates. There are
many particularly obvious signs
and symptoms mouth cancer patients have which are often overlooked by GP’s and GDP’s because of their lack of awareness
of the disease.
“The public needs to be aware
of mouth cancer. The screening

our specialist team provides at
the Walk is something all dentists
should be doing daily.”
Mouth cancer survivor Melanie Brooks, 26, has first-hand experience of how devastating the
late detection of mouth cancer
can be. She was diagnosed with
Mouth Cancer aged just 21.
Melanie said: “The symptoms
of my mouth cancer went undiagnosed for 18 months. The tumour
was visible on my soft palate and
I had major reconstruction surgery in January 2006 followed
by six weeks of radiotherapy and
further reconstruction. The consequences of my cancer are still
evident today with changes to my
speech and appearance.” DT

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[8] =>

8 AOG

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Back
on
Tour!
Where now? But to Indiaaaah

he AOG is well known for
its fun family days, packed
dinner dances, worldwide
charitable projects and stunningly different international trips.
Every trip is a unique experience. There is an interna-

tional conference and dinner, a
major themed occasion, a significant charitable act, tours
and dances and lots of fun time
or time to devote entirely to yourself, just to chill
out.
The
AOG
actively
encourages families as it is

based on the traditional values of
work and play.

and provides facilities for 500 villages with respect to dental care.

On the 18th of February
2011, the AOG will travel to
Delhi for a conference. Following this, the party will fly to
Khajuraho – the temples of the
Khama Sutra which it uses as its
base to go to Chitrakoot. Chitrakoot is where the epic Ramayana
has its turning point: It is also
where the AOG supports a cleft
lip and palate treatment centre

The trip will include an invitation to a magnificent Indian
wedding (bring your best dress
and dancing shoes), tours to evocative temples and the chance to
participate in ancient mystic rituals, as well as a a visit to the exotic
Raneh falls and an adventure in
the Tiger reserve. There will be
a festival of colour and dance, an
audience with astrologers (bring

Follow the AOG trip with Temple Tours and relaxing spas

your date, time and place of birth)
and soothsayers, henna painting,
and the chance to relax in a luxurious spa - an endless myriad of
stuff to do!
The Hotels are the Hilton,
Radisson and the Taj. Accommodation includes bed and breakfast
in Delhi, half board in Khajuraho, and full board (for the intrepid travellers who choose to
make that part of the journey) in
Chitrakoot where the AOG will
launch its important new project.

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choice of a beach holiday in exquisite Mahabalipuram, or the
chance to continue your temple
tour through the gateway to Hindu heaven in Varanasi. A third
option would be to take the fabled
trip to the golden triangle. The
cost for the main tour of 7 days,
including airfares is just £999
per person (based on two people
sharing). Business class upgrades
on international flights are available at £975 per person with the
option of booking an all suite hotel option to pamper yourself!

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So far this year, AOG Events
have included attending the
packed Clinical Innovations Conference at the Royal College of
Physicians followed by a dinner
- a family fun day in July which
attracted over 400 people. Still to
come is the AOG’s annual dinner
and dance event on the 4th of December (sorry, this year’s event is
already sold out, but bookings are
being taken for 2011).

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The AOG’s name means ‘Welcome’ in Hindi, Urdu & Punjabi,
and AOG membership is open
to all dental professionals, irrespective of their background.
The AOG is an understated society whose slogan is ‘towards the
greater good’. In its long 30 year
history, the AOG has undertaken
many significant acts of charity,
including the building of several
dental centres, libraries, and
orphanages. Amongst its membership, the AOG boasts many
prominent dentists and the AOG
plaque can be seen on the walls
of many buildings.
Be part of the ‘greater good’
and join the AOG today. Subscription is only £10. A small price to
pay for a great act! DT
For more information, or to
join, visit www.aoguk.org

[9] =>

Feature 9

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Safeguarding the oral
health of children
Maria Anuguita looks at children’s oral health

here are fears that the oral
health of children in deprived areas is being put
at risk as a result of budget cuts
affecting schemes such as Sure
Start. Despite reassurances from
the White Paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS that
NHS spending is ring fenced,
the public health agenda could
be compromised through cuts in
other departments and at local
authority level. The result could
be that so-called efficiency savings will affect service delivery,
with the greatest impact in more
deprived parts of the UK which
are already burdened with some
of the greatest health inequalities.
Declining child oral health
A report from the Audit Commission has found that despite £10.9 bn
being spent since 1998 on initiatives that aim to improve the
health of children, dental health
among the under-fives is declining and the overall health gap
between the richest and poorest children has become wider.
In the last 10 years there has
been a dramatic increase in the
number of children with decayed, missing and filled teeth.
Research published in the
August issue of the British Dental
Journal reports that a quarter of
three year olds surveyed in Greater Glasgow have tooth decay, and
that in deprived areas this figure
rises to 1 in 3 (out of 4000 children examined). Andrew Lamb,
BDA director for Scotland, said
that as adult, oral health can be
predicted by childhood dental
health and targeted interventions
are vital to closing the gap in oral
health inequalities.
The Sure Start scheme, an
initiative aimed at providing
health and social services for
the under-fives, involves health
initiatives typically focusing on
oral health promotion and fluoride toothpaste. Programmes
such as Brushing for Life, delivered by health visitors, provides
toothbrushes, toothpaste and
dental health education material at children’s eight, 18, and 36
months developmental checks.

However, these schemes are potentially facing the axe at worst
and severe funding cuts at best.
In June 2009, the BDA’s Oral
Health Inequalities policy paper
called for adequate resources
and remuneration to enable
the dental team to spend time
with patients and carry out their
role effectively. It called for an
evidence-based, integrated approach between all healthcare
and social services. However, in
light of recent budget announcements, Peter Bateman, Chair of
the BDA’s Salaried Dentists Committee commented that: “Social
deprivation remains a sadly accurate predictor of poor oral
health. Closing the gap between
those with the best and worst
oral health must be a priority.”
The White Paper proposes
the introduction of a new dentistry contract with a particular
emphasis on improving childrens oral health and increasing
access to NHS dentistry. It also
says that the NHS will need to
release £20 bn efficiency savings
by 2014 through cutting administration and management costs,
implementing best practice, and
increasing productivity.
Peter Bateman has a clear vision of what the role of the dentist should be during this time
of financial adversity: “It will
be more important that the new
contractual arrangements for
dentistry support a preventive
approach to care for both child
and adult patients. It is also essential that the profession is
engaged in the development
of these new arrangements.”
Central to the proposals of the
White Paper is collaboration between the NHS and other departments. However, the Department
of Education, which administers
the funding of Sure Start and ancillary health and social services
for children, has been ordered to
slash £1 bn from its budget, and
it is inevitable that this will filter
through to the detriment of children’s health services. However,
the DH is not concerned about any

References:
Audit Commission (2010) Giving Children a Healthy Start. Audit Commission, London
Davies GM (2010) The dental health of three year old children in Greater Glasgow, Scotland. British Dental Journal 209: 176-177
NHS Information Centre (2010) Dental Earnings and Expenses In England and Wales
2008/2009. NHS IC, London
British Dental Association (2010) Local Commissioning Survey. BDA, London
NHS Information Centre (2010) NHS Dental Statistics 2009/10. The Health and Social Care
Information Centre.
British Dental Association (2009) Oral Health Inequalities Policy. BDA, London
Campbell D (2010) Doctors and Nurses among 1700 staff sacked at Department of Health.
Guardian: 20 September
Maria Anguita, BSc(Hons), MA, DHMSA

domino effect: “The Department
will continue to work closely with
the Department for Education
on services for children to ensure that the changes in the NHS
White Paper and the subsequent
public health White Paper support local health, education and
social care services to work together for children and families.”
Increasing cost
New figures published by the
NHS Information Centre highlight the increasing expense of
providing dental care. The report
Dental Earnings and Expenses
in England and Wales 2008/2009
shows that expenses borne by
dental practices are escalating at
a faster rate than incomes, which
does not bode well with the government’s ambition of increasing
the number of people accessing
services. According to the Local
Commissioning Survey from the
British Dental Association, nearly
17 per cent of PCTs had spent less
than 95 per cent of the ring fenced
dental budget during 2009/2010.
It is not clear whether remaining funds were completely
unspent or diverted to non-dental
spending. The BDA warns that
in order to be effective, dental
services must be fully integrated
within primary care to help develop local solutions, and that
dentistry should be more integrated in health services to improve holistic patient care.
Figures from the NHS Information Centre, NHS Dental Statis tics, shows that in the 2-year
period ending June 2010 a total
of £28.5m patients were seen by
an NHS dentist, an increase of
376,000 on the March 2006 baseline. However, the percentage of
the population seen by an NHS
dentist, at 55.4 per cent, remains
below the March 2006 level of
55.8 per cent. The report also
shows that areas with the highest percentage of NHS patients
(up to 79 per cent) are in poorer
boroughs, compared with richer
boroughs such as Kensington and
Chelsea where only 23.8 per cent
of people see an NHS dentist.
Peter Bateman said that:
“Dentists
work
hard
to
improve the oral health of the
whole population and the new
arrangements must support that
work. A focus on the oral health of
young people makes sense because instilling good habits encourages good oral health.’’
The question yet remains:
who is going to pay for this? DT

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[10] =>

10 Event Review

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Biodentine: a typical love story
Dental Tribune looks at the UK launch of Biodentine, Septodont’s new dental material, which took the form of a one-day symposium

he luxurious Pennyhill
Park Hotel and Spa in Surrey was the setting for a
daylong symposium to mark the
UK launch of Septodont’s new
product, Biodentine last month.

More than 80 key opinion
leaders and leading dentists
from across the country came to
hear how this cutting edge technology, which, for the first time,
offers a bioactive substitute to

dentine, could
their practice.

revolutionise

The symposium began with
general manager of Septodont
Holding Olivier Schillier intro-

ducing Biodentine as the product of a love story and a 12-year
development into a dentine
replacement set to change the
face of restorative dentistry. Prof
Trevor Burke was next to the

podium. Acting as chair for the
day’s proceedings, Trevor set the
scene by discussing the change
in thinking in caries management towards a more minimally
invasive procedure where only
a percentage of the caries is removed then a suitable material
is used to seal in the remaining
caries. He posed a question for
delegates to ponder as they listened to the day’s speakers: Can
one solution be a substitute for
all restorative materials, ie MTA
and amalgam?
Next to speak was Prof Gilles
Richard, who is R&D manager
for Septodont France and the
developer of Biodentine. Prof
Richard’s presentation, From
Scientific Concept to Clinical
Use, detailed the origins of Biodentine and the journey it took
from conception to launch as a
commercial product.
He explained that the goal to
developing the product was to be
able to treat many pathologies
with a single solution. Biodentine began as an idea in 1998
when a dentist and a material
developer contacted Septodont

‘Biodentine
began as an idea in
1998 when a dentist and a material
developer contacted
Septodont’
with the concept. Prof Richard
then detailed the next 12 years
as a whirlwind of development,
testing and industrialisation
before the present situation of
launching Biodentine to market.
Prof Richard then went
into detail about the composition of the product. He explained
that it was an active biosilicate
technology composed of tricalcium silicate. This is mixed
with water to create the correct
consistency.
Following him was Prof
Pierre Colon, Head of Endodontics at Paris University. In
his presentation Biodentine:
a material worth discovering,
he reviewed some of the clinical lab-based studies that had
been undertaken. I must admit to his presentation being
something akin to an advanced
chemistry lesson for me with
the amount of chemical formulae he showed, but his aim
was to explain how Biodentine
worked at a chemical level. He
described the chemical reaction between the powder and

[11] =>

Event Review 11

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

water as similar to that of concrete and many comparisons
in the studies he described
were made to other materials
(for example, ProRoot MTA).
After a fantastic lunch (with
the amount of food available,
I can see why the venue is the
base for the England Rugby
team for matches!) it was time
to hear more about the use of
Biodentine in practice. Prof Tim
Watson, director of research at
King’s College London Dental
Institute and Head of Biomaterials Science and the Biomaterials, Biomimetics & Biophotonics Research Group, discussed
Biodentine: the new dynamic,
bioactive, interface with the
dental tissues. He explained that
he had been working with the
product for about 10 months,
and was interested how biomimetic it was especially in
the field of restorative dentistry and caries management.

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move towards minimally invasive dentistry at all levels meant
clinicians were looking for solutions that ticked all the boxes
of efficacy, compatibility and
conservation of tooth structure.
Prof Youngson stated that he
could see the product having a
place in teaching clinics around
restorative and primary care.
He questioned why it should
not be used at undergraduate
level, after all, he said, what you

learn at undergraduate level is
what you are competent at. The
fact that the product is technique insensitive and has a long
setting time is a bonus for students who have no preconceptions about what to use, which
gives a great learning platform.
The last clinical speaker, Dr
Julian Webber, looked at the
use of Biodentine in a specific
discipline – endodontics. He began Biodentine, an Endodontic

Perspective by detailing his sixmonth experience in using the
product. He gave a very honest
appraisal of Biodentine, discussing the advantages of a longer
setting time of 10 minutes being
beneficial to endodontists, but
also that the fact that it is very
dependent on how it is mixed
was a potential problem. He
showed some cases which he
had used the product on and
gave many practical hints and
tips on using it in endo.

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He looked at how Biodentine interfaced with the natural
tooth surface as it settled into
the mouth after placement. He
explained that there was some
form of remineralisation that
can be seen. In addition, the
product lays down good reactionary dentine when reacting with the pulp. His main
message said: ‘it will work
with caries – so get using it!’
Next up was Prof Gilles
Koubi from the University of
Marseilles. His presentation, Biodentine: a universal material:
clinical applications and clinical
cases, was a very entertaining
look at some of the cases where
he had used the product during
trials between 2005-2010. Some
of the indications where he had
used Biodentine included:
• Direct Composite Restoration –
Prof Koubi explained how after
using it as a dentine substitute
in this case, the restoration fractured at 16 months and he re-restored it by leaving the Biodentine where it was and putting
new composite around.
• Direct Pulp Capping
• Perforation Filling
• Inlays and Onlays
Prof Koubi presented many
cases where Biodentine had
been used; always reminding
the audience that at the time it
was still very experimental and
sometimes he may have used it
just to see what it could do.
After a short break it was
time for Dean of Liverpool Dental School, Prof Callum Youngson, to discuss Integrating Biodentine into undergraduate
training. He put into context
what was happening at undergraduate level and why introducing products such as Biodentine into the curriculum
made sense; especially as the

General manager for Septodont Ltd UK, Mike Cann, closed
the symposium by highlighting that Septodont was not just
a leader in dental anaesthetics
but also in dental materials.
Commenting that the symposium marked the launch of Biodentine in the UK, he said: “We
are delighted to share the unique
advantages
of
Biodentine™
with so many distinguished
experts from the UK and
overseas.” DT

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Business Management Tribune
Business Management
Tribune

Business Management
Tribune

Business Management
Tribune

Business Management
Tribune

Be Protected

Its all in the mind

The dentist goldmine

Tweet your way to success

Dr Ishman discusess dento-legal issues

Understand the power of patient knowledge

What’s your dental outlook?

Jodie Tisson uses the powers of social
networking

page 15

pages 16-17

page 18

pages 20-22

Time to think in incorporation
Michael Lansdell outlines the advantages of incorporation for an independent
practice owned and operated by a dentist or partnership

M

ost dentists are not
primarily
business
people, so it’s not
surprising
that
since
the
General Dental Council (GDC)
altered the regulations to
allow
dental
practices
to
operate as limited companies
from 2006, there has been much
speculation and misinformation
circulating within the profession
about whether to take his step.
Limited Liability
The use of the word ‘limited’ in
the title ‘limited company’ refers
to limited liability. While even in
these parlous times, few dental
practices are in danger of closing, the shareholders in a limited company have the security of
knowing that their exposure to
liabilities to creditors will never
exceed their original share capital, usually between £100 and
£1,000.
Another advantage of trading as a limited company is the
higher level of credibility in
many commercial negotiations
or inter-business relations accorded to a company compared

with a sole trader.
Selling to a third party
It is often easier to transfer the
ownership of a practice trading
as a limited company. This is because the company remains in
existence unless it is dissolved
or liquidated.

the PCT has been properly approached at the time of incorporation and the PCT contract has
been transferred into the limited
company without restriction.
Experience shows that incorporated practices with PCT contracts are realising higher selling values than unincorporated
practices, partly for this reason.

‘There has been
much speculation
and misinformation
circulating within
the profession
about whether to
take his step.’

The process of incorporation
and the resulting altered tax regime enables converting sole
traders to use tax savings arising from incorporation to substantially increase their pension
contributions without affecting
their current quality of life, subject to the new rules on pension
contributions for high earners.

The existing business arrangements, bank accounts
and supply contracts, for example, all stay the same under the
new ownership, while the new
owner of a sole-trader practice
would need to re-establish these
relationships under his/her own
name. This is especially important with PCT contracts, which
should be unaffected, provided

Tax benefits
Other taxation benefits related
to the differences between how
individuals and companies pay
tax and National Insurance depend on the individual’s income,
which is effectively the practice’s profit in any given year.
For example, a sole trader making a profit of around

Transform your practice into a newly formed company

£100,000pa,
and
drawing
out of the practice all of the
profit, would expect to be about
£4,000pa better off after incorporation, just based on the rate
differences alone (09/10 tax
tables), before any other planning is done to significantly
increase the amount of the total
tax savings.
Cash-flow benefits
Converting to a limited company also has cash-flow ben-

efits. Sole traders normally pay
tax on their profits (income) in
two instalments, with about half
becoming due two months before the end of tax year and the
other about half payable four
months after the end of the tax
year. Limited companies of this
size do not make payments on
account, and their Corporation
Tax, as opposed to Income Tax,
is not payable until nine months
after the end of the tax year.
à DT page 14

D E N T S P LY A C A D E M Y W E B I N A R P R O G R A M M E

Book the best seat. Your own.
The DENTSPLY Academy Webinars are the convenient and easy way for
you to stay ahead and learn about the latest developments in dentistry.
You can even interact ‘live’ with the speakers during the lectures. Plus you
get to do it all from the comfort of your own home or practice, you simply
need a computer with internet access.
There are only 100 places available on each of our online seminars.
So hurry and book your place on these popular events.

Visit www.dentalwebinars.co.uk
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Dr Carol Tait
Competent cleaning

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19:30, 5th October 2010

19:30, 8th November 2010

Obturation of the

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cleaned and shaped

Dr Trevor Bigg

root canal system

Smart Dentine Replacement

19:30, 2nd November 2010

19:30, 26 October 2010
19:30, 10 November 2010

[14] =>

14 Business Management Tribune
‘Often a spouse employed to manage
appointments or
other aspects of administration, assist
many dentists acting as sole traders
in the running of
their businesses.’

ß DT page 13

When the practice is transferred to the newly formed
company, it can often borrow to
pay for the goodwill, which can
amount to 100 per cent of the
annual turnover of the practice.
The interest on this loan qualifies for tax relief, and the capital sum borrowed by the limited
company can be used by the
dentist to reduce non-tax deductible payments, for example

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

on his/her home mortgage. In
some cases, the home mortgage
can be paid off in its entirety, depending on the goodwill value.
Even if the company does
not need to borrow to complete
the purchase of the practice, it is
possible for the dentist as both
shareholder and company director (employee) to draw from
the company a combination of
salary, dividends, and loan repayment, to reduce his/her per-

sonal tax liability to zero, for a
number of years after incorporation. Corporation Tax on the
practice’s (now the company),
profits is of course still paid,
currently at a rate of 21 per cent
on profits up to £300,000.
A family business
Legislation to curb “income splitting” has been deferred for now.
However, other family members, often a spouse employed to
manage appointments or other

D E N T S P LY A C A D E M Y W E B I N A R P R O G R A M M E

aspects of administration, assist many dentists acting as sole
traders in the running of their
businesses. If these family members also become shareholders
in the new company, advantage
can be taken of other allowable
tax mechanisms to further reduce the overall tax liability.
Offshore structures
For higher earners not domiciled in the UK for tax
purposes, there are more sophisticated tax-planning techniques that make use of offshore
structures. If you fall into this
category, (and your domicile
in this context is not necessar-

‘If these family
members also become shareholders
in the new company, advantage can
be taken of other
allowable tax mechanisms to further
reduce the overall
tax liability.’
ily the country in which you live
or hold a passport from!), you
need to take specialist advice to
optimise your tax position.

WEBINAR
PROGRAMMES
Endodontics
Dr Carol Tait

Book the best seat.
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Obturation of the
cleaned and shaped
root canal system

19:30, 2nd November 2010

Periodontics
The DENTSPLY Academy Webinars are the convenient and easy way for you
to stay ahead and learn about the latest developments in dentistry.
You can even interact ‘live’ with the speakers during the lectures.

Sarah Murray and
Baldeesh Chana
Root Surface Debridement

19:30, 27th September 2010
19:30, 8th November 2010

Plus you get to do it all from the comfort of your own home or practice,
you simply need a computer with internet access.

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There are only 100 places available on each of our online seminars.
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19:30, 26 October 2010
19:30, 10 November 2010

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Dr Trevor Bigg
Smart Dentine Replacement

It’s evident that all dentist
sole traders and dental partnerships, whether or not they are
currently considering incorporation, would benefit from
a review of their status which
compares their present position
with that after the formation of a
limited company. There is, quite
literally, nothing to lose.
At the same time, incorporation is not necessarily appropriate for every practice. The ultimate decision, after considering
specialist, professional advice,
must take into account the individual dentist’s present business circumstances, personal
position and preferences and
also, where relevant, his or her
future plans. DT

About the author
Michael Lansdell
was brought up
in South Africa,
receiving his honours degree there
in 1991. He completed his training
with international
accounting
firm
Deloitte in 1994,
and went on to become a founding
partner at Lansdell & Rose Chartered
Accountants (SA) a year later. Based in
Kensington, London, Lansdell & Rose
deal only on a long-term retained basis, exclusively with owner-managed
clients, generally dentists and doctors,
and specialising in the incorporation
of dental practices. As a client-focused
team, they look for sustainable longterm solutions for their clients that
maximise profits, minimise tax and
build wealth. For more information,
visit www.lansdellrose.co.uk or call
020 7376 9333.

[15] =>

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Tightening security
Make sure you and your team are protected,
says Bob Khanna

ociety in general is becoming more litigious. A recent
study from one of the UK’s
dento-legal indemnity providers
suggests that dentists in Britain
are among some of the most at
risk in the world when it comes
to legal action from patients. It
is believed that the figures in the
UK are even higher than those of
the US.
It is possible that a practitioner may find themselves on
the unpleasant receiving end
of a complaint at some stage in
their career, be it an irate phone
call to a practice manager, or in
the worst possible case, legal action. While an upset phone call or
visit from a dissatisfied patient,
whether aimed at yourself or a
member of your team, is unpleasant enough, receiving legal action from a patient is every practitioner’s worse nightmare.
Essential cover
With this in mind, ensuring that
you are protected with professional indemnity insurance cover, which offers comprehensive
cover to perform procedures using products such as Botulism
Toxin, dermal fillers and other rejuvenation treatments is a must.
On some occasions, patients
come into the clinic with unrealistic expectations as to what can
be achieved. While it is the professional’s responsibility to inform the patients what they can
realistically expect, it is sometimes the case that the patient
simply doesn’t understand, and
then is disappointed with the final result.
This may not be down to
the professional’s actions It
can simply be a case of the patient either misunderstanding,
or choosing not to listen to the
professional’s honest advice
about treatment, instead preferring to see it as a ‘miracle-cure’.

About the author
Dr
Bob
Khanna
is
President and
founder
of
non-profit organisation The
International
Academy
for
Advanced Facial Aesthetics (IAAFA), He is
the appointed clinical tutor in
facial aesthetics at the Royal
College of Surgeons and has
trained thousands of dentists
and doctors through the Dr
Bob Khanna Training Institute. For more information
about Dr Bob Khanna, call
0118 9606 930 or visit www.
drbk.co.uk.

Warning of risk
Of course, like any medical procedure, the delivery of facial
aesthetic treatments does carry
a risk, and it is up to the practitioner to ensure that the patient

is aware of this. It is common
practice for patients to sign an
agreement declaring that they
do understand that they are undertaking a medical procedure,
and are fully aware of the risks

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31 August 2010

Business Management Tribune 15

involved; however, when faced
with a bad reaction, it is not uncommon for the patient to forget
all the advice and panic.
Another common issue is patients are not aware that in order
to maintain the effects regular
treatment must be carried out.
Although, again, it is the responsibility of the professional to impart this information, it is only
possible to give patients estimates
of their treatment’s duration. Eve-

rybody is different, and the products used can react differently.
The primary concern should
be patient protection, and as
such, all practitioners should aim
to ensure the highest level of care.
However, in the event of a patient
being dissatisfied, it is important
to ensure that you and your team
are protected, and that the indemnity cover that you have is appropriate for all of the treatments you
offer in your practice. DT

[16] =>

16 Business Management Tribune

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Keeping them keen
Making sure new patients know everything they
need to know about future treatment will add
value to your practice, says Simon Hocken

ecently, on a trusted recommendation, I attended
a small private hospital
in the South East of England
(a 500 mile round trip from my
home), to have a consultation
with a specialist and to participate in some tests.
The fee for the time I spent in
the hospital was around £1,700,
and the outcome (apart from
a chat and a couple of short
emails), mainly consisted of an
estimate for the treatment that
they had offered to me.
Although I was grateful to
be given a solution, albeit an
expensive one, the process I
went through to get it irritated
me. Most of us are too impatient
for the consultation process, although we accept that a consultation is a necessary step toward
finding a solution or providing
an outcome to our situation.
That’s why carpet fitters, for example, write ‘Free Estimates’ on
the side of their vans – they know
that their clients don’t really
want to pay for them. However,
the carpet fitter needs to size up
the job, decide the way forward,
offer an estimate and close
the sale, much like a dentist.
Boosting patient experience
Now, I’m not an advocate the
offering of free consultations –
I’ve always believed people don’t
value what they don’t pay for.
Look at the number of missed
appointments in NHS GP surgeries and hospital out-patient
clinics. However, paying for a
consultation can leave the patient feeling grumpy too, unless

you can turn the experience into
one which genuinely adds value
to the patient.

would be, and I left the clinic
with the very same symptoms
that I arrived with.

So, how can you do that during a new patient consultation in a dental practice?
Let me tell you a little bit more
about my private hospital experience and I think you will see

Communication is key
So, in order for your patients to
leave your new patient consultations feeling satisfied with their
appointment, I suggest that you
consider some of the following

Matrix

‘At no point did anyone explain to me how
they conducted their consultations, what
might happen, how long it might take and
what I could expect at the end. I felt that
my presence in their clinic was mostly
to allow them to reach whatever conclusions they could..’
the parallels with a dental practice. During my visit, they ran
late and I wasn’t told how long
I might have to wait or how long
the consultation would take, so
I couldn’t easily arrange to do
anything else with my time.
At no point did anyone explain to me how they conducted
their consultations, what might
happen, how long it might take
and what I could expect at the
end. I felt that my presence in
their clinic was mostly to allow
them to reach whatever conclusions they could. Part of this
deal was that I would behave
like a good patient and do whatever was asked of me as I was
poked and bled! I felt my experience was a win for them, but a
loss for me, particularly financially. They hadn’t made it clear
what the value of a consultation

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Compressing wedge
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Flexible wing exerts
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ways to make a patient’s initial
consultation feel like a valuable
experience. Make sure patients
understand:
1. How your new patient consultations are structured, both in advance of the visit and on the day
2. How long the whole visit will
take
3. How you will communicate
the outcomes, treatment plan/
solutions that you will be offering
4. To inform the practice staff if
they are experiencing any pain
or discomfort, you will then
have time to offer any first aid or
temporary solutions to relieve
their symptoms
5. That they will receive a thorough verbal and written expla-

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Informing patients about new treatments can help to boost the patient experience

[17] =>

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

nation of their diagnosis
When you offer patients a
treatment plan:
1. Provide any information
sheets that you might have on
their diagnosis or the treatment
that you are offering them and
include other useful sources,
such as website address etc
2. Show them any visual aids
you have, including video, ‘before and after’ testimonials, for
example, to help them increase
their understanding and give
them confidence that you can
deal with their problem

parking/time away from the office, out of mobile contact purposes)
6. Tell them what to expect, during the treatment, and how they
might feel afterwards including:
whether they can/should drive,
whether they should be accompanied, whether they can expect
to go back to work and function
properly
7. Tell them what will be ex-

pected of them before, during
and after the treatment in terms
of managing their eating/work/
social life
8. Give them a chance to ask
questions in private and not at
your front desk
10. Dedicate one of your team
to them as a point of contact so
that once they’ve had a chance
to discuss their visit with family
and friends, they can ask more

Business Management Tribune 17

questions or voice their fears.
Alternatively,
contact
them
yourself at an agreed time to
ask them if they have any further questions
My private hospital experience got a lot better once I discovered that they had a ‘patient
liaison office’, which although
seemed like a well-kept secret,
they were willing and able to
answer my questions. Eventually, their patience enabled me to

say yes to their proposed treatment plan and my symptoms
are now getting better.
So, how about establishing a
version of the ‘patient liaison office’ in your practice, or dedicating a member of your team to be
a patient coordinator/care nurse
who will help new patients understand more about what is
entailed in their treatment, and
therefore more readily accept
your treatment plans. DT

3. Accurately explain what the
costs are likely to be in order to
reach the solution/outcome they
are seeking

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family and friends,
they can ask more
questions or voice
their fears.’

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4. Tell them when payments are
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Dr Simon
Hocken is the
founding partner of Breathe
Business. He
has a wealth
of experience
as a successful private dentist, practice
owner and business coach,
helping clients increase their
turnover, recognise and act
on developing trends, and find
the perfect balance between
their personal and professional lives.Breathe Business
is a unique leading coaching
and consultancy company,
which specialises in working
with dental principals and
their teams in order to develop and grow their practices,
supporting them through the
changes they wish to make to
their business. Among an innovative portfolio of services,
Breathe Business runs Business Clubs and helps practices develop and implement
proven, effective strategies to
have a steady stream of new
and existing patients wanting
to buy from their practice.
If you would like some help
with any aspect of growing
your practice, call 0845 299
7209 or email ernie@nowbreathe.co.uk.

DENT-Citanestadvert-aw19.indd 1

26/7/10 12:46:08

[18] =>

18 Business Management Tribune

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Options for young dentists
Geoff Long looks at the professional outlook for those starting out

ver the past four years,
we have seen the pool
of independently owned
practices in the UK dwindle. This
has been brought about by aggressive purchasing by the corporates and strict funding control
from the PCTs for new start ups.

It is not surprising that options
for young dentists are somewhat
limited working as an associate
for 35 per cent or £9 a UDA. I can
see the day coming when associates will be working for corporates for as little as £3,000pm as
they do in South Africa.

Dentists become used to crises,
moan a little and absorb their
problems into the great British
characteristic of “putting up with
it”. However, given the popularity
of dentistry, there is no great wave
of public sympathy about to solve
the problems for young dentists.

Disparity between the wages of
nurses and dental nurses is a telling example of the unpopularity
of dentistry and public support
for nurses
It is worth looking at the
wealth accumulation ability of

dentistry. We took a sample of
1,000 dentists, split roughly 400
principals to 600 associates. Why
that split is probably down to the
effect of corporate dentistry swallowing up the larger three or four
chair practices. The results were
remarkable:
Millionaires in dentistry
Percentage of Millionaires – principals 34 per cent, associates one
per cent
Percentage of Multi-Millionaires
– principals 6 per cent, associates
0 per cent
Of the 34 per cent of principals who were millionaires all
but two made their money from
dentistry. The usual story was
one of hard work and not spending the money! The average age
for hitting the elusive million
was 39. Incidentally, the two associates made their million out of
property and shares.
Looking to the future, the ambitious young dentist will find it
more and more difficult to make
a million pounds out of dentistry.
It is not surprising that one of the
most common questions I am
asked as a dental accountant is,
‘How do I earn a living outside of
dentistry?’
The answer is: ‘Not easily!’
Nevertheless, I have compiled a
list of businesses/occupations of
some of the self-made millionaires to help young dentists with
career planning.
Businesses/occupations of
self-made millionaires:
Agriculture, Antique Sales, ArtistCommercial, Attorney, Audio/
Video Reproduction, Author-Fiction, Author-Text Books/Training
Manuals, Automotive Leasing,
Baked Goods Producer, Beauty
Salon(s) Owner-Manager, Beer
Wholesaler, Builder/Real Estate
Developer, Commercial Laundry, Cafeteria Owner, Clinical
Psychologist, Coin and Stamp
Dealer, Business/Real Estate
Broker/Investor, Computer Consultant, Developer/Construction,
Engineer/Architect, Farmer, Fast
Food Restaurants, Florist, Investment Management, Jewellery
Retailer/Wholesaler, Engineering, Lecturer, Marina Owner/Repair Service, Medical Research,
Micro-Electronics, Motor Sports
Promoter, Nursing Home, Patent
Owner/Inventor, Physician, Plastic Surgeon, Publisher of Newsletters, Printing, Publishing, Scrap
Metal Dealer. DT

About the author
Geoffery Long FCA is
a specialist dental accountant based in Hertfordshire.
Geoff has over 15 years experience managing dentists’
accounts and is recognised
for his proactive approach to
dental taxation and business
problems. Call him on 01438
722224 or email office@dentax.biz.

[19] =>

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[20] =>

20 Business Management Tribune

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Join the Social Media Revolution!
Jodie Tisson looks at why dental practices should be making the most of
social media and how it can be used to promote your practice and increase communication with both colleagues and patients

I

t seems that in recent years,
social media sites, such
as Facebook and Twitter,
have been coming on leaps

and bounds, and it is easy to
understand their popularity
when it comes to networking
with friends and relatives. But

for many people the business
benefits of such forums is often
less clear. So what do you need
to know?

The following tips are designed to give you all the information you need to choose the
best social media outlets for your

business, and to show you how
they can help you market your
practice, create brand awareness, network with colleagues
and increase communication
with your patients.
Is it for you?
With social media becoming
so popular, and the economy
forcing everyone to be on their
toes, dental practices should try
and explore every option to help
them increase patient numbers
and maintain the patients they
have. Not only can social media
allow you to share all your latest news and information with
colleagues and patients, but the
real-time nature of online updates can cause a real buzz and
interest in what you have to say.
Furthermore, users can interact
and comment on your messages,
giving you a sense of what the
people that matter to you and
your business really think. It is
important however, not to be too
sales oriented when using any

‘Dental practices
should try and explore every option
to help them increase patient numbers and maintain
the patients they
have.’
form of social media - if your followers feel they are being sold to
they will often switch off.
Social media is also a great
way of increasing traffic to your
website, as the more networking
you do, and links you have going to your website, the higher
your ranking will become on
search engines such as Google.
This means that when a potential patient searches for a dentist
in their area, your practice is far
more likely to be at the top of
that list. It also means that there
are more opportunities for people to visit your website, as you
can put a link to it on any social
media sites, as well as any key
messages you want to get across.
Denplan has recently undertaken a number of social media
ventures to enhance its offering
even further and I think the following sites are a great place
to start for any dental practice
interested in joining the social
à DT page 22

[21] =>

Come
visit

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[22] =>

22 Business Management Tribune

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

company details and a short description of your products and
services. These sites can be subject to editing by anyone, so you
need to make sure you check
your page regularly.
ß DT page 20

Protecting you
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day

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media revolution. There are also
plenty of dentist search sites you
can make sure your practice is
listed on, such as the Denplan
‘Find a Dentist’ site or the BDA
dental list.
Blogging
Probably the most established
social media outlet is blogging.
A blog is a type of website which
features regular entries and
commentary from you and your
practice team...and it’s completely free! You can set up a
blog in minutes by using certain
web services and it is the ideal
way of getting into social media.
You can regularly post your latest practice news, events and
update people on your services
and products, or you could even
try and write a series of short
articles about the sort of treatments you offer and who they
would be appropriate for.
Blogs are picked up really
well on search engines such as
Google, and keen bloggers can
subscribe to your blog and receive alerts when a new post
is uploaded. However, it is vital
that if you decide to undertake
a blog, or any other form of social media, that you tell all your
visitors and colleagues about
it. Whether this is though posters or information cards in your
waiting room, information on
your TV screen, or a friendly
word from your practice team,
continuing to market the service you provide will ensure the
best results.
Facebook
Easily one of the most popular
social networking websites, Facebook users can add friends
and followers and keep them
updated with regular messages.
You can also update your personal and business profile for
free to notify patients about your

latest news and join networks of
other people with similar interests. This will not only help you
communicate regularly with
your patients, but also keep you
‘in the loop’ with real-time news
from your peers and colleagues.
Twitter
Twitter is a free social networking service that enables its users to send and read messages
known as ‘tweets’. Tweets are
like online text messages of up
to 140 characters, and can be
great for sending individual pa-

How do you know if it’s
working?
All this advice and information
is all very well and good, however, it is important to know that
all the effort you are putting into
social media is paying off. Perhaps the most valuable aspect
of social media is the fact that
it will raise your online profile,
but it is also a great way of getting feedback from people who
have visited the practice. Even
if someone leaves negative feedback, it is important to see this
as constructive criticism and an

‘Facebook users can add friends and followers and keep them updated with
regular messages. ’
tients appointment reminders,
instead of calling or writing.
Just ensure that the people you
are contacting are regular followers to ensure the message
is received. Senders can restrict
delivery to those in their circle
of friends or, by default, allow
open access. Users can send and
receive tweets via the Twitter
website, Short Message Service
(SMS) or external applications.
Twitter is ideal for posting
your blog and Facebook updates on or, if you have updated
your website, it is a great vehicle for escalating your messages to more people. You can
also search for mentions of your
practice and follow in the footsteps of some larger companies
and use the site to deal with customer enquiries and questions.
Other options
If you would rather ease yourself into the art of social media a
great place to start is by adding a
company profile of your practice
to websites such as Wikipedia or
Linked In. These are free sites
and you can simply add your

opportunity to improve. You can
also respond to these comments
and any other questions or queries in order to help put people’s
minds at rest.
If you are more interested in
actual facts and figures to show
the value of the social media
you have undertaken, there are
a few websites out there which
will monitor your brand name
for free. However, because these
sites are free, they can often be
unreliable and work best if you
have an unusual or distinctive
practice name. There are companies which will monitor your
online profile more effectively,
but this can be expensive and
are really designed for bigger
organisations. I think the best
way of monitoring the success of
your social media are the most
straightforward, as simply noting the number of interactions
and comments on your social
media sites each month can give
you a really good idea of what
messages were well received
and the kind of thing your followers are interested in.
A word to the wise however...
undertaking an effective social
media strategy requires a lot of
work and regular updates, so
it is not something to take on
lightly. Some payment plan providers, can give you a range of
help and advice to assist you in
choosing the best social media
outlets for your business, but it
is clear that with the world of
social media ever expanding, it
is vital that dental practices take
advantage of this tool and utilise
the benefits it can bring. DT

Quality. Security.
Schülke.
Schülke & Mayr UK Ltd.
Sheffield S9 1AT | United Kingdom
Phone +44-1142-54 35-00 | Fax -01
www.schuelke.com

About the author

The use of social media brings you close to patients at the click of a mouse

Jodie Tisson is digital
marketing channel executive
at Denplan

[23] =>

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

Education 23

The heart of dentistry
Andrew McCance offers some advice on how to
motivate patients to develop better oral health

he state of the nation’s
oral health is a concern
for all those involved in
the dental profession. Finding
ways to improve the standard
of oral hygiene regimes through
new techniques, cleaning aids
and initiatives, has played a role
in raising awareness about the
importance of brushing twice a
day and cleaning interdentally,
as well as regular visits to the
dentist.
Attracting patients
Encouraging patients to maintain a regular cycle of examinations is certainly a challenge for
clinicians, especially in troubled
economic times such as these.
With the prospect of another
shake-up in the contractual ar-

rate, with a monthly ‘membership’ fee is another alternative.
The patients feel encouraged
to take full advantage of the
treatments available, whilst the
practice benefits from a regular
source of income.
Preventive dentistry is the
current focus for Government initiatives. Getting patients to take better care of
their teeth is a challenge, but
one which is made easier
when the patient has a smile
of which they can be proud.
Offering a way to correct a patient’s malocclusion that doesn’t
involve fixed appliances is certainly appealing for many patients. This market does not have

‘The state of the nation’s oral health is a
concern for those involved in the profession’
rangement between PCTs and
practice owners, developing
ways of getting fee-paying patients through the door might
well make all the difference.
For instance, one dentist
in Manchester took the unorthodox step of providing a taxi
service to get patients to their
appointments. As a result, they
claimed to have generated a 30
per cent fall in missed appointments, representing a significant saving for the practice, as
well as ensuring patients got the
check-ups vital for preventive
dentistry.
A good deal
Patients appreciate a good deal,
and so offering a package of
both general and more specialised dental care at a discounted

to be the sole preserve of orthodontic specialists. With the right
system and training, clinicians
in general practices can also offer their patients a solution to
treat a range of malocclusions.
An invisible solution
Developed by experts in orthodontics, the Clearstep system
offers a complete, ‘invisible’
orthodontic treatment methodology for patients from the age
of seven upwards. By adopting
a hybrid approach, combining clear positioners with traditional mechanics, the once
perceived limitations of such
removable positioners has been
overcome.
As a result, clinicians can offer the best results at an attractive price while keeping treat-

ment times to a minimum.
The benefits are not just
subjective and abstract. According to a recent study , both
general dental practitioners and
orthodontists rate the positive
effect of orthodontic treatment
on periodontal health as quite
high. So clinicians have a way
of helping to improve not only
a patient’s smile, but also their
dental health.
It would seem that the overriding influence in preventing
gum disease would appear to
be patient motivation and so the
argument returns to the initial
question: how to encourage patients to visit their dentist regularly, and to maintain an effective oral healthcare regime?
Maintaining good results
It stands to reason that a patient
will be more inclined to keep
their teeth in a better condition
if they looked good in the first
place. Moreover, if they have invested both time and financial
resources into achieving their
new and improved smile, they
will be far more likely to want
to maintain the positive results
that have been achieved.
Regular assessment appointments form an integral part of
the system. These not only give
the opportunity for clinicians
to assess the progress of the
treatment, they also provide the
chance to monitor more closely
the overall oral health of the
patient: an important aspect of
preventative dentistry.
One of the advantages
of a removable appliance is
that a normal cleaning routine
can
be
maintained,
with the positioner removed
to allow access for brushing and interdental cleaning.
Looking after the oral health
of our patients is at the heart
of dentistry. With the Clearstep
System, clinicians have access to
an innovative system that tackles a range of malocclusions in a
way that allows patients to keep
up their usual daily oral healthcare routines with ease. DT

About the author

Encouraging patients to maintain regular examinations is a challenge for clinicians

Dr Andrew McCance Since qualifying in dentistry from Glasgow University, Dr Andrew McCance has gained
a wealth of experience in multi-disciplinary practices. In the mid 1990s,
Dr McCance began to develop the
Clearstep brace, based on the demands
of the 4,000 patients treated annually
in his specialist practices. For more
information, call the OPT Laboratory
& Diagnostic Facility on 01342 337910,
email info@clearstep.co.uk or visit
www.clearstep.co.uk.

[24] =>

24 DCPS

United Kingdom Edition

October 4-10, 2010

Under pressure?
Neel Kothari asks: Will the pressure to meet academic requirements repel potential hard-working dental nurses from entering the profession?

s every dentist knows,
finding a good nurse is
like finding gold dust. In
the last few years, dental nursing has undergone a mini metamorphosis; previously, many
nurses learnt their trade through
in-practice training, many choosing to undergo further training.
Today however, qualification
through a structured course is
a mandatory General Dental
Council (GDC) requirement for
trainee nurses. Along with this,
comes a yearly registration fee
to the GDC, as well as having to
undertake verifiable CPD hours.
I applaud the professional
status now endowed upon
nurses through registration with
the GDC. Many dentists, myself
included, have always felt that
the hard work and care provided by nurses far outweighs the
credit they are given (and in many
cases the pay too). However, this
does come at a cost, whether
it is to nurses or to the practice;
ultimately in the business of
dentistry, an eventual trickle
down to patients is likely
to be seen. So, are nurses,
practices and patients actually
better off?
Justifying fees
While dental care professionals
have their annual retention fees
(ARF) set to a lower level than
dentists, £96 is still a lot of money, especially to many of the dental nurses I know; it is therefore
absolutely crucial to make sure
their fees are justified. It does
also seem disproportionate that
all DCPs pay the same fee, while
having differing salaries and
presenting with different risks
to patients.

Shouldering the burden
So the question that must be
raised is: are we actually likely to
see many complaints that result
in GDC inquiries into nurses? Or
fitness to practice panels resulting in erasure from the GDC?
The BADN reports that from
those nurses surveyed, 32 per
cent of registered dental nurses
do not have their own indemnity
cover, with 18 per cent of registered dental nurses having no indemnity cover at all.
So in the event of a patient
complaint, what level of burden
is fair for nurses to shoulder?
Given the constraints that nurses work within (often set by the
dentist), in my opinion the answer should be very little.
Many of the nurses who
have assisted me in the past
have struggled with exams during their school years. This does
not mean that their ability to do
the job is necessarily impaired,
nor does it mean that they lack
the intelligence or the skill to
take on further responsibilities.
However, in reality, some of the
best nurses currently working
in general dental practices today
may have been put off in the
past if mandatory requirements of registration were
in place when they first
entered dental nursing.

Surely a dental therapist or
hygienist who earns a higher
average salary is more likely to
pose a greater risk to patients
than dental nurses? Yet they pay
the same fee. The British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN)
surveyed nurses and found that
the majority of dental nurses (62
per cent) earned between £10,000
and £20,000 a year, with around
71 per cent of nurses paying their
own GDC registration fees.

Study fears
I fully endorse pathways that
enable nurses to further develop their skills within their profession; however, by insisting
on qualification, we must as a
profession be fully aware that
we are potentially alienating
good, hard working candidates
for dental nursing who are
more than able to cope with
the stresses and strains of the
job, but are put off by the academic requirements required.
In my opinion, all members of
the dental team should be encouraged to improve their skills
and knowledge base, but this
should not be to the detriment
of those who have all of the
practical ability to do the job,
but struggle with the academic
rigmaroles.

With dentists, we can see
that the ARF goes towards
regulating complaints and setting professional standards for
dentists to work within, but
ultimately there is one main
pathway for the GDC to get involved with regulation and that
is for a patient to complain.

Along with now having to
pay for registration and indemnity (if chosen), nurses now also
have to undertake regular CPD.
The BADN reports that around
45 per cent of employers make
no contribution to nurses’ CPD
with only 15 per cent covering all
costs associated with CPD.

Split opinion
When asking various nurses
what they thought of the rapid
transformations seen in the last
few years, I have to admit that to
my surprise opinions have been
split. Sure, plenty felt that the
ARF fees were disproportionate
and a far greater financial burden than they need to be, but
many nurses also felt a great
sense of achievement in having
completed their qualification and
are looking forward to undertaking further CPD in the future. Almost all of the nurses I have discussed this with are glad to have
a recognised qualification on
their CV, but many are worried
about just exactly how they are
going to achieve all of their CPD.
Restricted access
As the majority of nurses are
female, another key issue that
arises is how these new reforms
fit in with those nurses that raise
families and need flexible working patterns. It seems that for
those choosing to return to work
on a part-time basis (which is
a high proportion), the burden
of reform is disproportionately
high. Not only do they have the
same ARF and indemnity, but
often access to CPD is very restricted, especially if practice
CPD days fall outside of their
work days. I have been told that
for many the prospect of carrying on with nursing is no longer worth the pay or the hassle.
So are nurses, practices and
patients actually better off? Certainly some nurses have benefitted from their elevated status,
however, by requiring registration for all are we risking abandoning perfectly good nurses
who either fail to cut the academic mustard or simply cannot
cope with fulfilling their CPD obligation?
Of course practices gain overall from having nurses trained to
a recognised standard, but can
the trade off between the benefits and the cost be justified to
patients, who after all ultimately
fund the business of dentistry?
For me the jury is still out. DT

About the author
Neel
Kothari
works
as a principal
dentist at High
Street
Dental Practice in
Sawston, Cambridgeshire and provides both
NHS and private dentistry.

[25] =>

[26] =>

26 Clinical

United Kingdom Edition

October 4-10, 2010

Smile enhancement with laser technology – predicatble and esthetic
Dr Hugh Flax details the fundamental importance of the esthetic zone to a
patient’s external appearance and inner emotions

ith the esthetic zone
being
absolutely
critical to a patient’s
external appearance and inner emotions, orchestrating a
bioesthetic result is mandatory.
Too often, this is complicated
when esthetic desires infringe
on the health of the periodontal complex. This is often true
when biologic width violations
have occurred iatrogenically.
Many factors may contribute
to these failures; the two main
culprits being intracrevicular
margin location and overcontoured restorations. Not only is
plaque accumulation problematic, but the supracrestal fibres
also become interrupted, causing the tissues to become further inflamed and esthetically
unmanageable. Kois’ landmark
study defined the total dentogingival complex (DGC) as clinically predictable at 3mm on the
direct facial aspect, and at 3mm-

Fig 1: Visualizing the entire oral-facial
composition helps to diagnose less harmonious features of the smile.

5mm interproximally when
measured from the free gingival
margin to the osseous crest.
It is critical anteriorally that
the gingival margin mimics the
osseous scallop while maintaining the DGC.1 Further complicating these complex situations
is the degree of inflammation in
the soft tissue, affecting the clinical development of health and
esthetic symmetry.
Dental lasers have evolved
considerably as an adjunctive
and alternative treatment to
safely, conservatively, and reliably decrease bacterial levels
and improve the hard and soft
tissue contours.
An ideal result
Often the patient is frustrated
with his or her previous poor
cosmetic results. However, to
improve the periodontal framework in order to create an ideal

result, they must be referred to
yet another doctor. Even more
challenging is the extended
healing time created by reflective mucoperiosteal surgery.
This not only affects the chronology of final restorative care,

levels and improve the hard and
soft tissue contours.
Studies of Er: YSGG lasers by
Rizoiu and others have shown
that thermal coagulative results,
as well as bony ablation charac-

‘Not only is plaque accumulation
problematic, but the supracrestal fibres also
become interrupted, causing the tissues to
become further inflamed and esthetically
unmanageable’
but also delays the patient’s ultimate satisfaction and happiness for a minimum of two to
three months.
Fortunately, dental lasers
have evolved considerably as an
adjunctive and alternative treatment to safely, conservatively,
and reliably decrease bacterial

Figure 2: Close-up photography is essential to planning perio-restorative care.

teristics are similar to a dental
bur.2 From a patient-friendly
standpoint, less need for suturing and shorter healing times
improves case acceptance for
doing ideal dentistry. In selected
cases, such as the one presented
in this article, minimally invasive laser procedures, with precise restorative planning and

technique, can satisfy esthetic
and functional parameters. Furthermore, patients can enjoy optimal results more comfortably
and efficiently.
A conservative strategy was
devised that would allow us to
correct the problems and causes
in a “multi-tasking” manner.
Case Presentation
A 38-year-old female patient
presented for correction of what
she termed her “tilted smile”
(Fig 1). Given that she was starting a new sales career, she also
wanted to make her teeth brighter and her smile much broader.
The patient shared her frustration about previous dental
consultations that had focused
solely on orthodontic or surgical solutions without considering a more practical approach
that would fit her busy life.
Her smile analysis estab-

Figure 3: A mounted diagnostic wax-up is a critical roadmap to planning a realistic
result.

Figure 6: The tissues are treated in a very
nontraumatic manner with the Waterlase.

Figure 4: Outlining the desired gingival margins, prior to anesthesia, communicates a
blueprint to the patient and restorative team.

Figure 5: A stick-bite helps to verify that incisal and gingival planes will be parallel.

Figure 7: To modify the bone, a very tight
up-and-down movement is performed,
using the black mark as a reference following the gingival scallop.

[27] =>

Clinical 27

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

lished a collapse of the bicuspids in the buccal corridor. Furthermore, the axial inclinations,
irregular gingival margins, and
incisal edges created a downward tilt to the patient’s right
due to tooth positioning. Closeup imaging showed healthy gingival tissues as well as a weakened right central incisor from a
large composite (Fig 2).
Findings
A full clinical examination with
radiographs and mounted models revealed the following:
• Biomechanically, the majority
of her teeth remained strong despite previous dental care.
• Periodontally, soft and hard
tissues were healthy.
• Occlusally, load testing was
normal (after muscle relaxation)
and there was obvious CR-CO
anterior-vertical slide due to a
premature contact at tooth #30.
• Esthetically, the width-tolength ratio of the upper centrals was 1:2, far from the ideal
range of 0.75:1.0. Tooth shade
was a Vita A2.

tively lower settings.

the gingival margins (Fig 5).

Treatment
At the initial closed periodontal
lift, the ErCr-YSGG laser was
used in three modes (gingival
sculpting, osseous recontouring,
and bio-stimulation). Prior to anesthesia, the desired framework
was planned and outlined using
a fine marker (Fig 4). Furthermore, a stick-bite was used, not
only to establish an ideal incisal
plane, but also to properly align

With the settings at 2.0 Watts
(W), 20 pulses per second, 20
per cent air, and 20 per cent
water, a G-6 tip (600µ in diameter) was used to shape the
labial gingival region. No tissue
necrosis or significant bleeding
occurred as a result of using
the laser’s relatively lower settings. All areas were “sounded” using a periodontal probe
(Fig 6).

At the facial margins, osseous sculpting required great
precision in order to maintain a
3-mm DGC. A specially tapered
T4 tip (400µ in diameter) was
used at a 25 per cent higher wattage of 2.5W. Prior to usage, the
tip was measured and marked
to 3 mm in order to maintain
controlled adjustments within
the gingival sulcus during perio
probing movement of the tip (Fig
7). The resection was smoothed
with a 7/8 curette (Fig 8). Using

low-level laser therapy at a setting of 0.25 W, a decrease in the
release of inflammatory histamine and increased fibroblasts
for junctional epithelial growth
was achieved by “frosting” the
outer epithelium and injection
sites (Fig 9). The patient
was placed on a vigorous
home-care regimen (Oxygel,
Oxy-fresh; Coeur d’Alene, ID)
and closely monitored for a
à DT page 29

Treatment Plan
Given the patient’s previous history and her desire for minimally invasive dental care, a conservative strategy was devised

‘A conservative
strategy was devised that would
allow us to correct
the problems and
causes in a “multitasking” manner’
that would allow us to correct
the problems and causes in a
“multi-tasking” manner:
•Muscle and bite therapy with
a Tanner appliance, followed
by careful equilibration aided
by the T-scan (Tekscan System;
South Boston, MA)
•Three-dimensional wax-up on
a Stratos articulator (Ivoclar Vivadent; Amherst, NY) (Fig 3)
• Home bleaching of the
lower
teeth
with
Opalescence 15 per cent (Ultradent; South Jordan, UT)
• “Closed flap” periodontal
modification with the Waterlase
ErCr: YSGG (Biolase Technology; San Clemente, CA) while
the first three items were being
accomplished (the combination of these four steps was a
tremendous time saver and also
allowed us to carefully monitor
progress on a weekly basis)
• Definitive restorative care with
porcelain veneers and a crown
on tooth #8.

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22.09.10 10:06

[28] =>

28 Industry News
An introduction to
restoring implants for
the GDP
This November, Minesh
Patel, BDS, MFGDP, MSc, PG
Cert, will be running a one
day course for GDPs on restoring implants, in association with BioHorizons.
This London based course will be an essential introduction for all GDPs
currently placing implants and who would like practical and theoretical
training on the key issues around restoration.
The course will cover occlusion, patient expectations, anatomy, aesthetics
and gingival assessment, with additional guidance from Dr Patel on which
prosthetic solution to use and when.
The day will conclude with a discussion around the treatment and resolutions
of prosthetic complications.
This highly valuable course will be held at UCL Eastman CPD, 123 Gray’s Inn
Road, London on 27th November 2010. CPD will be credited by BioHorizons
and the course is competitively priced at £250.
For more information or to book your place contact BioHorizons now on 01344
752560 or infouk@biohorizons.com or visit www.biohorizons.com.

United Kingdom Edition

Get your career off the
ground, care of DENTSPLY
and the BDA
As part of its continuing
commitment to investing in
better dentistry, DENTSPLY
is proud to once again
sponsor the 2011 BDA /
DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Awards. Held annually, this prestigious
awards programme serves as a way to identify new talent from within
undergraduate dental students as well as supporting any promising research
with the potential to improve the way that future dentistry is practised.
Held in three phases, the Awards Programme offers dental students the
opportunity to further their career and gain recognition at local, national and
international levels. Entrants compete, first within their schools, and then
nationally, for the top honour, which includes the chance to present their
research project to a panel on a non-competitive basis at the American Dental
Association’s annual conference in October.
Committed to innovation within dentistry, DENTSPLY is proud to be able to
support emerging talent from within the profession alongside the BDA and
the DDU.

Diamond GIC Rapid
Set Capsules – the way
forward!
Diamond
Rapid
Set
Capsules are proving very
popular
with
Dentists
everywhere because they
are very fast, convenient
and easy to use. Why not
take advantage of Kemdent’s special offer? Buy 3 packs of 20 capsules during
October and get either 3 more packs at half price or a free gun and applicator; a
great opportunity to experience the advantages of Diamond Capsules in your
Dental Practice.

For more details about the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, please visit
www.eastman.ucl.ac.uk or telephone 020 7915 1038

For information on Kemdent’s full range of Diamond products call Helen
Jackie on 01793 770090 or visit our website, www.kemdent.co.uk.

Prestige Medical has announced the
launch of their Advance autoclave.
With a stylish new look and easy
to clean smooth white surface, the
Advance is designed to look smart in any
dental surgery. Add to that its proven
performance and reliability and you need look no further for the autoclave of
choice for the dental market.
Advance also retains everything that has proved so popular about the C3
Advance – it has one of the highest tray capacities available on the market, is
supplied with a complete set of 6 trays, a choice of printer or data logger and a
2 year warranty as part of the package.
Service is carried out by our own team of Prestige Medical engineers and, of
course, the Advance comes complete with installation, commissioning and
user training completely free of charge as standard.

UCL Eastman researcher
wins prestigious
Fellowship for work on
cranio-facial deformities
The UCL Eastman Dental Institute is pleased to announce the award of a
two-year Fellowship by the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of
Surgeons of England to researcher, Rishma Shah, Lecturer in Orthodontics at
the Institute.
The prestigious award will support Miss Shah’s ongoing research, begun
during her postgraduate studies, into the creation of in vitro craniofacial
skeletal muscle tissue for use in the development of novel therapies to treat
cranio-facial deformities such as cleft lip and palate, with the ultimate aim of
providing tissue for use in facial implants to replace muscle tissue deficiencies.
Currently, there are a number of limitations to conventional therapies used to
treat patients with craniofacial deformities, including donor site morbidity and
the failure of transplanted tissue to restore a defective site adequately
It is anticipated that the Fellowship grant will allow Rishma to find a suitable
way of integrating biologically engineered cranio-facial muscle with tendon
and bone attachments, which would provide a valuable contribution to the
field.
For more details about the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, please visit
www.eastman.ucl.ac.uk or telephone 020 7915 1038

For more information, and entrance requirements, contact your local BDA/
DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Awards Representative
or visit http://www.bda.org/students/awards-competitions/

UCL Eastman graduate wins
orthodontic prize
The UCL Eastman Dental Institute would
like to congratulate Joanne Birdsall,
an orthodontic graduate student who
recently won the prestigious J K Williams
medal.
The JK Williams medal is awarded
annually in memory of John Williams,
Consultant Orthodontist and outstanding teacher who was based at Wakefield
and Leeds and a former Board member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery. The
winner is the individual achieving the most outstanding overall examination
performance in all the diets of the Intercollegiate Membership in Orthodontics
examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College
of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow (IMOrth) held in the academic year.
Joanne is the 7th winner of the award to be trained at the UCL Eastman Dental
Institute. The bi-collegiate award involves a three-hour written examination,
followed by the presentation of a series of cases treated personally by the
candidate, OSCEs and structured clinical reasoning exercises enabling
the assessment of clinical knowledge, skills and communication abilities.
Following completion of her three-year training, Joanne plans to continue
pursuing a career as a hospital consultant, and is hoping to start a post-CCST
training post in October 2010.

Important product news from Prestige
Medical

October 4-10, 2010

The pliable, packable consistency of Diamond makes it extremely easy to
carve; it won’t stick to metal instruments, and the restoration will set quickly
to a rock hard state. No light curing is required as the restoration is chemically
cured and rapid snap set into position.
Diamond Rapid Set Capsules are packed in individual, easy to access foils and
are suitable for Class 1 and 2 restorations, together with build-up fillings and
linings, core build-up and retrograde root fillings. They are available in three
matching tooth colour shades.

AMD Picasso Laser Multi-tip and Bleaching
Handpiece Kit
The team at Velopex are delighted to
announce the introduction, into stock of the
latest multi-tip and bleaching handpiece from
AMD Lasers. This new, easy to fit, accessory
allows you to maximise the use of your
Picasso laser. The new, fully sheathed fibre,
can be wound onto the supplied spool and easily interchanged with the one
supplied with your Picasso laser. The handpiece comes with a protective blue
cover, which can be easily removed and replaced with a single use special
tip. These disposable tips eliminate the cutting and stripping of the fibre and
ensure that all you have to do pre-use, is initiate the fibre on the black spot on
the disposable tip packaging.
The Kit includes:
• Fully Sheathed optical fiber with Picasso Laser connector
• Bleaching Handpiece
• Fiber spool
• Protective cap
• 5 x assorted disposable tips (sample pack)
This kit is priced at £375.00 + VAT and available now
Tips are available as follows: 25 pack assorted disposable tips 400 micron (5 x
45° 5mm, 5 x 45° 10mm, 5 x 90° 5mm, 5 x 90° 10mm, 5 x straight 5mm) priced
at: £95.00 + VAT per pack

or
Supported in the UK by Velopex

No Prep Veneers

Alkapharm Ultra-Wipes ‘expert’.
Multi Purpose extra large/strong antibacterial
wipes

Delegates at the recent AACD/BACD
meeting, ‘Esthetics meets Aesthetics’
in London, were fascinated by Luke
Barnett, James Russell and Juergen
Wahlmann’s discussion about the latest
developments in ultra-thin and no-prep
veneers.
Item that they covered included:
• The importance of orthodontics
• Improved communication between dentist and technician
• Minimally invasive contouring and how it can improve aesthetics
• Advantages and disadvantages of layered and stack feldspathic ceramics
To find out how we can help you deliver stunning veneers in the aesthetic
zone, call Luke Barnett on 01923 251537

Extra Large - Super Strong saturated wet wipes
For the thorough Cleaning & Disinfection of all
non-porous surfaces including dental chairs,
furniture & equipment in one simple operation.
Ultra-Wipes expert offers the perfect solution
for the cleaning & disinfection of all non-porous
surfaces quickly & efficiently. Antibacterial activity
is triggered on application.
No rinsing is required as treated areas dry quickly
leaving all surfaces thoroughly clean & ‘streak free’
Alkapharm Ultra-Wipes ‘expert’ are available from all good dental wholesalers
in distinctive re-sealable flow-packs, each pack contains 20 extra large/strong
saturated antibacterial cleaning wipes.
www.alkapharm.co.uk

To experience the benefits of the new Advance for yourself, contact the sales
office now on 01253 844 103 or email sales@prestigemedical.co.uk

Cross Infection Control in primary dental
care practices
FREE for a limited period only
Would your clinical staff members welcome
a simplified clearer understanding of the
requirements in ensuring that the whole team
operate in accordance with professionally
recognised guidelines for the control of cross
infection?
The Alkapharm ‘Learning Lunch’ is designed as a refresher for the whole team
and covers the day to day routine aspects of cross-infection control in the
dental surgery, held in your own practice a session lasts just under 2 hours and
can be scheduled during an extended lunch period or if preferred at the end of
the clinical day. Sessions are designed for the whole team with each attendee
receiving 2 hours of verifiable CPD.
Learning Lunch is now being offered *FREE OF CHARGE to dental practices
with a minimum of 6 staff members
For more information and/or to arrange your own practice learning lunch call
Alkapharm on 01785 714919.

TN010 “Double Cord
Packer”
Garrison Dental Solutions
has partnered with wellknown lecturing dentist
Dr. Robert “Bob” Margeas
(Iowa, USA) to produce a
unique double bladedretraction cord packing instrument nicknamed ‘Bob’s
Double Cord Packer’. This first-of-its-kind instrument has both orientations thin
serrated packing blades on one end and both orientations of ultra-thin nonserrated blades on the other. This configuration allows the clinician to simply
twist the instrument maintaining it in the current field of view if wearing
loupes or using a microscope while continuously packing cord all the way
around a tooth.

KaVo ESTETICA E50: Simple to use. Simple to
expand. Simply more reliable
The new KaVo ESTETICA E50 treatment centre
simply offers more comfort to make your
working day easier. The E50 allows KaVo, the
leading equipment supplier to close the gap
between the time-proven Primus 1058 and the
ESTETICA E70, whilst defining and occupying a
new market segment.
The E50 offers: intuitive user-interfaces of
the dentist and assistant element, featuring
direct selection buttons, for ease of use. The freely-selectable handpiece
configuration on the dentist element has the option of 5 or 6 handpiece
holders, providing essential flexibility today and in the future.

Having both serrated and non-serrated blades on a single instrument allows for
the packing of all sizes and types of retraction cord with only one instrument.
Inaddition, blades with a more narrow profile have been utilized to prevent
injury to the sulcus while packing cord around small teeth and irregularities.
Garrison Dental Solutions, innovators of such popular restorative products as
the Composi-Tight® 3D Sectional Matrix System, supplies its products directly
to the dentist through select distributors in Europe.
For further information please contact Garrison Dental Solutions Office Europe
by phone +49 2451 971 409, via email info@garrisondental.net or your
preferred Dental Dealer.

The design minimises recesses making all surfaces hygienic and easy to
clean, with removable components for easy disinfection/sterilisation. Panels
are sealed or close-fitting, preventing dirt and debris entering the treatment
centre. The automatic HYDROclean function ensures the continuing operability
of your unit.
For information regarding the full range of KaVo products, Freephone 0800
218020.

[29] =>

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

ß DT page 27

month while occlusal therapy
and bleaching procedures were
performed.
Four weeks after surgery,
the tissues had healed and
restorative care could be initiated. The patient’s teeth were

‘These changes
not only improve
the final esthetic
outcome of the
case but also
provide the physiologic functional
parameters
required for successful dentistry’
prepared for veneers and a
crown with mild soft tissue reshaping, to fine-tune our previous treatment. After taking
impressions and bite registrations, prototype provisionals
(Luxatemp
Plus,
Zenith
DMG;
Englewood,
NJ)
were fabricated using the
“shrink-wrap”
technique.
The patient was sent home
with the same home-care regimen as mentioned previously,
and instructed to “test-drive”
her new smile for esthetics and

Clinical 29

function. She returned in a week
to perfect the prototype’s occlusion, color, and morphology. Photographs and models
were sent to the laboratory, providing a final blueprint
for
the
porcelain
restorations (Fig 10).
Satisfied Patient
Four weeks later, the provisionals and cement were carefully removed from the teeth.
All restorations were tried
in individually and as a group
to verify fit and esthetics. After
the
patient’s
enthusiastic
approval,
the
porcelain was bonded using the
two-by-two
technique
and
isolation.
Margins
were
smoothed and polished and
occlusion balanced with the
T-scan. A protective nighttime appliance was created to
add longevity to the rehabilitation. Our very satisfied patient said that we had exceeded
her expectations.
The use of a hard/soft
tissue laser is a wonderful adjunctive tool for cosmetic and restorative dentistry. The case discussed
here demonstrates that this
type of laser technology gives
dentists the ability to make
significant soft and hard tissue changes while being minimally invasive. These changes not only improve the final
esthetic
outcome
of
the
case but also provide the

Figure 10: Detailed information helps the laboratory to translate clinical results to the porcelain restorations.

physiologic functional parameters required for successful
dentistry. DT

Acknowledgments
The author thanks his office
team and laboratory technician, Mr. Wayne Payne (Payne
Dental Lab, San Clemente, CA), for continually enhancing the lives of
many patients like the one
presented here. He also is
thankful to his family, who
allow him to contribute to the
education of other dentists and
their teams.

Figure 11: The great improvement in esthetics boosted the patient’s self-confidence and
pride in her dental care.

About the author
Dr.
Flax
has been an
Accredited
Member of the
AACD
since
1997. He was
co-chair of the
Conference
Advisory Committee for the
2003 Annual
Scientific Session and will be
for the 2008 meeting in New
Orleans. He is a member of
the AACD Board of Directors,
is on the editorial board of
The Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry, and chairs the Disaster
Relief Fund. Dr. Flax also is a
member of the ADA, the AGD,
the ALD, the L.D. Pankey
Alumni Association, and the
Pierre Fauchard Society. He is
a Fellow of the IADFE.Dr. Flax
practices full time in Atlanta,
Georgia, focusing on functional and appearance-related
conditions and advanced laser dentistry. He and his wife,
Robyn, have two daughters.
References
1. Kois JC. Altering gingival levels: The
restorative connection, Part I: Biologic
variables. J Esthet Dent 6(1):3-9, 1994.2.
Rizoiu I, et al. Osseous repair subsequent
to surgery with an erbium hydrokinetic
laser system (pp. 213-221). International
Laser Congress, International Proceedings
Division. Athens, Greece, September 25-28,
1996. Editor’s Note: This article was
adapted with permission from an article
that appeared in the Spectrum AACD Issue, May 2006.

Figure 8: A curette helps clean and smooth the sulcus of any debris.

Figure 9: A “laser bandage” is placed along the treated area to improve the healing time
and decrease the patient’s discomfort. Note the immediate improvement of the geometric
progression of gingival embrasures.

Figure 12: Ideal proportions and emergence profiles will create long-term healthy tissues
and bioesthetics.

[30] =>

30 Events

United Kingdom Edition

Celebrating 10 years!

the international name in crossinfection control, this year’s Premier Symposium will take place
on Saturday 5 December 2010 at
Kings College, London. The opportunity to hear well-informed
and entertaining speakers in
comfortable and spacious surroundings ensures that this meeting remains a highlight of the
dental calendar.

Don’t miss the 10th anniversary of Premier Symposium in London featuring topical lectures and
the Premier Awards

elebrating 10 years as the
largest risk management
conference of its kind
in the UK, the Premier Sympo-

sium is pleased to announce a
compelling line-up of speakers
for the 10th anniversary of the
event.

9361 DBG ClinicalGov The probe 338x244.qxd:Layout 1

1/7/10

13:39

Organised by Dental Protection, the leading indemnity organisation for dental professionals in the UK and by Schülke,

October 4-10, 2010

Prof Tim Newton at the 2009 event

Food for thought
The Premier Symposium 2010 will

Page 1

Award winners with their certificates

Clinical Governance including
Patient Quality Measures Is your practice compliant?

feature a range of topical lectures including the transformation of dental care through
the use of implants and the
risks associated with them,
nerve injuries – their cause
and management and the HTM
01-05 guidelines – one year on.
The programme features the
following speakers and lecture
topics:

Prof Richard Palmer – Implants:
new risks for old?
Prof Tara Renton – Nerve injuries: their cause and management
Paul Jenkins – The HTM 01-05
watershed: where are we now?
Paul Redmond – Talking ‘bout
my generation (communicating
across ‘generation gaps’)
Peter Briggs – Risks and responsibilities in periodontal care.

Are you waiting to find out when
the Care Quality Commission*
inspect your practice?
Have you addressed all 28 CQC
outcomes?
Your compliance with Clinical Governance
and Patient Outcomes will be questioned
with the introduction of the Care Quality
Commission*, HTM 01-05 and the increase
in PCT practice inspections.
Would you like to know how you would fare when your
practice is inspected and have the opportunity to take
corrective action?
The DBG Clinical Governance Assessment is the all
important experience of a practice audit visit rather than
the reliance on a self audit which can lead to a false sense
of compliance. The assessment is designed to give you
reassurance that you have fulfilled your obligations and
highlight any potential problems. We will provide help
and advice on the latest guidance throughout the visit.

Praising original work
The event will also include the
presentation of the Premier
Awards, a series of six risk management prizes presented to dental professionals who have produced original work which aims
to improve patient safety.

The areas the DBG assesses are:

premises including access, facilities, security, fire
• Your
precautions, third parties and business continuity plans.
governance including Freedom of Information Act,
• Information
manual and computerised records, Data Protection and security.
• Training, documentation and certificates.
• Radiography including IRR99 and IR(ME)R2000 compliance.
infection and decontamination including HTM 01-05
• Cross
compliance and surgery audits.
emergencies including resuscitation, drugs,
• Medical
equipments and protocols.
• Training, documentation and certificates.
• Waste disposal and documentation and storage.
• Practice policies and written procedures.
• Clinical audit and patient outcomes including quality measures.

The assessment will take approximately four hours of your Practice Manager’s time depending on the number of surgeries and we
will require access to all areas of your practice. A report will be despatched to you confirming the results of our assessment. If you have
an inspection imminent then we suggest that you arrange your DBG assessment at least one month before the inspection to allow you time
to carry out any recommendations if required. Following the assessment you may wish to have access to the DBG Clinical Governance
Package with on-line compliance manuals.

For more information and a quote contact the DBG on 0845 00 66 112

20
YEARS

www.thedbg.co.uk
Please Note: Errors and omissions excluded. Any prices quoted are subject to VAT. The DBG reserves the right to alter
or withdraw any of their services at any time without prior notice.

*England only.

The event is an ideal practice day out, with team tickets
available for DPL Xtra Practice
Programme
members,
and a chance for all members
of the dental team to attend
this valuable and informative
pre-Christmas
symposium.
Get your ticket
Including six hours verifiable
CPD, tickets are now on sale for
this year’s Premier Symposium.
The conference was a sell-out last
year, and delegates are advised to
order their tickets as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment. Tickets are available by
emailing events@dentalprotection.org, calling 020 7399 1339 or
visiting http://www.dentalprotection.org/uk/newsnevents/events/
premier2010. DT

[31] =>

Classified 31

United Kingdom Edition October 4-10, 2010

info@medicsfinancialservices.com
www.medicsfinancialservices.com
+44 (0) 1403 780 770
Very competitive fixed rates - House and Practice
Finance
Surgery Finance - Bank of England Base
(from) + 1.00%
100% Mortgage Finance - House and Practice
Extremely Enhanced Income Multiples

Enhanced income
multiples, market
leading rates & highly
competitive
mortgage solutions

for Dentists

+44 (0) 1403 780 770

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Medics Professional Mortgage Services is a trading style of Global Mortgages Ltd.,
which is an Appointed Representative of Home of Choice Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

MPMS 95x50 Dentists.indd 1

Untitled-4 1

11/12/2006 21:56:19

19/10/09 17:03:31

[32] =>

80% extra protection

against future acid erosion1

The combination of Sensodyne Pronamel daily
toothpaste and Sensodyne Pronamel Daily Mouthwash
can provide up to 80% extra protection against future
acid erosion.*1 Recommend daily use of Sensodyne
Pronamel daily toothpaste and Sensodyne Pronamel
Daily Mouthwash.

For patient samples visit
www.gsk-dentalprofessionals.co.uk

References:
1. GlaxoSmithKline data on file Guibert et al 2010.

*compared to brushing with Sensodyne Pronamel daily toothpaste alone
SENSODYNE and PRONAMEL are registered trade marks of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies.

RECOMMEND PRONAMEL PROTECTION FOR YOUR PATIENTS

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[cover] => DT UK 2410

[toc] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [title] => Call me Dr - Dentist Dr [page] => 01 ) [1] => Array ( [title] => News [page] => 02 ) [2] => Array ( [title] => Back on Tour! [page] => 08 ) [3] => Array ( [title] => Safeguarding the oral health of children [page] => 09 ) [4] => Array ( [title] => Biodentine: a typical love story [page] => 10 ) [5] => Array ( [title] => Business Management Tribune [page] => 13 ) [6] => Array ( [title] => The heart of dentistry [page] => 23 ) [7] => Array ( [title] => Under pressure? [page] => 24 ) [8] => Array ( [title] => Smile enhancement with laser technology – predicatble and esthetic [page] => 26 ) [9] => Array ( [title] => Celebrating 10 years! [page] => 30 ) [10] => Array ( [title] => Classified [page] => 31 ) ) [toc_html] =>

Table of contents

[toc_titles] =>

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