It’s the biggest sporting event in the world, and now the London 2012 Olympics have given one Norwich dentist a chance to shine; Dr Bimesh Sawhney, who owns his own practice in Wherry Road, has been selected to live and work with some of the industry’s top athletes, something he’s understandably thrilled about.

‘My friends told me to apply for it,’ Dr Sawhney said, ‘because I love sport. I play football, hockey, tennis, squash, and I just got back from skiing.’ And even though he has a ticket for the football gold medal match, he is most looking forward to meeting his heroes; ‘Hopefully I’ll pick up some autographs and won’t be needed when the football is on!’

Anything can happen on the sporting stage, and the 31-year-old Guys Hospital graduate, is not sure which event will need the most attention, he commented; ‘It might be for emergencies, for the boxing or martial arts, I could be searching for teeth in the ring. Playing hockey means I have seen and treated a few things, such as my battered and bleeding friends.’ Despite the uncertainty, Dr Sawhney couldn’t be more excited about the prospect of treating some world-famous sports stars, he said that he was confident in his ability to cope under pressure, and added ‘I can’t wait, it will be good experience and something to build on for the practice.’

A molar removed from the mouth of John Lennon in the sixties is set to go up for auction, with a predicted sale price of around £30,000.The tooth is the ultimate collectors item for any fan of the fab four, and was passed on to Lennon’s housekeeper, Dot Jarlett, after it was extracted because it was decaying. Dot’s son, Barry, explained that Lennon had brought the extracted tooth home from the dentist wrapped in paper and asked Dot to throw it away, before adding ‘As your daughter’s a Beatles fan, you can give it to her as a souvenir.’ He went on to say that his sister has kept the tooth safe all these years and that ‘It is something that we felt was very personal.’

Barry praised the late Beatle for the generosity he showed to his mother, saying ‘He treated her like family, because he didn’t really have a very big family and he really looked after my mum, he used to call her Aunty Dot.’ Dot has previously sold several of Lennon’s belongings, including the jacket he wore for the cover picture of ‘Rubber Soul.’

The fifty-year-old molar comes with a signed document of authenticity, and will be opened to bidders on the 5^th of November in Stockport. Bets placed with Ladbrokes show that the current predicted price is a little over £30,000. Ladbrokes spokesperson, Alex Donohue, was confident that the tooth would peak buyers interest, saying ‘We’re convinced bidders are going to get their teeth stuck into this lot.’

Over 4,000 people living in Plymouth are on the waiting list for a place with an NHS dentist, the National Health Service has revealed. Although this figure has dropped from 6,300 from last year, a large portion of those registered signed up seven months ago and are still waiting.

Only 53% of Plymouth residents are thought to be using dental services – a two percent drop from last year – due at least in part to the potential cost of treatment. Those waiting to be allocated a dentist are being encouraged to ring around their practices to see if any spaces have become available, as it has been suggested that city centre offices are more inclined to take on new patients if they are contacted directly. In the NHS Plymouth dental report, Vikki Johnson says; ‘Whilst allocation of people is sporadic and not easily predictable, we continually talk with practices persuading them to take, usually, several hundred people as their capacity allows and the number is gradually reducing.’

Furthermore, the report showed that only 50% of people who were given a spot with a surgery had taken advantage of it, Ms Johnson commented that this makes it even harder to allocate spaces and could impact further on waiting times. She added ‘NHS Plymouth strongly encourages any patient who is seeking an NHS dentist to contact practices directly. But it is generally perceived to be a mixture of the economic climate forcing patients to be more aware of their spending, the deferments of check-ups, and resultant under-delivery of targeted activity.’

Health officials in Darlington are blaming the economy for a drop in the number of people attending dental appointments. Families in particular are feeling the pinch as the price of consultations and other treatment rises beyond what they can comfortably afford. As a result, more ways of encouraging people to visit the surgery are being considered. County Durham and Darlington’s director of public health, Dr David Landes, published the figures in his report for the Council’s Health and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee, in an attempt to explain why children’s dental health in the area was slipping below acceptable standards.

A 2008/2009 survey revealed that children under the age of twelve suffering with tooth decay made up more than 40% of that age group, the worst in the country after Middlesborough. The figures were thought to be the result of fluoridated water. However, other results were no more promising; 54% of youngsters not in school were not being seen by the dentist, that number rose even further when the children joined mainstream education. More worrying, between the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 period the number of people visiting the dentist had dropped dramatically, more than 10% in some age groups.

Dr Landes blames this on the rocky economic climate, causing people to tighten their belts. He says; ‘If you need a course of treatment and you’re not exempt, the current fee is £47 and it’s a considerable amount of money, and it could be nearer £100 if you’re with a family. We’re promoting informal sessions, so at least if people are not exempt they’re not going to have that potentially embarrassing discussion in the waiting room.’

The BDA Dental Showcase in Birmingham has launched a campaign to boost confidence amongst UK dentists. The Heart Your Smile initiative was created by several industry professionals who were concerned about the lack of confidence dentists were reportedly experiencing countrywide. Its founders are hoping to inspire dentists in their everyday practice by implementing nine core values to boost their drive and performance, labeled the ‘Nine habits of a happy dental professional.’

Managing director of the dental division of Henry Schein UK, Simon Gambold, said ‘It’s about stimulating positive conversations in the profession, about the profession.’ Showcase attendees were invited to sign the manifesto and show their support by wearing a Heart Your Smile badge. Dental professionals were also encouraged to share their stories at a film studio that was set up at the event, designed to lift other workers with interesting and entertaining tales from the world of dentistry. Marketing guru Chris Barrow said ‘Over the past few weeks we have ‘planted’ some posts on social media about what would inspire confidence in the dental profession and the answers have been very revealing.’

BDA’s Linda Stranks was hopeful that ‘A patient-facing campaign will also emerge from this which dental professionals can use to promote positive messages about overall healthcare and regular visits to the dentist.’

Twenty dental practices in the UK have been found lacking, according to information revealed by Which? consumer protection.
Out of ten NHS surgeries and ten private surgeries, eleven were rated ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ after visits from undercover Which? representatives. Dentist where found to rush examinations and overlook vital assessment points – in five cases, the consultation lasted less than ten minutes. It’s also an industry standard to offer an x-ray to a new patient, this did not occur in five of the twenty visits. Soft tissue checks were only made in five of the surgeries reviewed, a procedure that is an integral part of the screening process for oral cancers.

Only three of the twenty offices visited were found to be ‘good’, but none were rated ‘excellent’. Consultations at NHS dentists were eleven minutes long on average, not nearly long enough to have adequately assessed the subject’s conditions, according to industry experts.

The General Dental Council and the Care Quality Commission have both been alerted to the findings and taped evidence has been passed onto them from Which?, whose executive director Richard Lloyd has this to say; ‘In an industry that has not one but two regulators, this level of incompetence is unacceptable. Patients could be left with permanent problems that could have been easily avoided’.
 

UK dentists have spoken about their worry over the impact of NHS cuts on their most vulnerable patients. A recent survey carried out by the British Dental Association has revealed that most dentists think the budget cuts will affect services badly, limiting access to much needed treatments. 

Although job security was a major worry for the majority of those who took part, most dentists were thinking about the effect on their patients before themselves; 83% of respondents said there were longer waiting times for appointments, whilst 72% felt that there was a reduction in available treatments. 58% of those asked thought that the standard of care had been compromised following the announcement of large NHS budget cuts.

The survey was aimed at surgeons whose work centres on patients with special needs, showing that two thirds of dentists in this sector were concerned with their patients being denied access to dental care and as a result being neglected within the system.

fortunately, it seems their voices are not going unheard, as the British Dental Association has said it will be writing to the Department of Health to persuade against Primary Care Trusts making cuts to the services of special needs dental surgeries.

People have been warned about drinking smoothies after a survey revealed more than half of those questioned were unaware they could damage teeth.

More men than women believed that fruit smoothies were not bad for teeth, while people aged over 60 were the largest group to believe the misconception.

Explaining how fruit drinks often have a high sugar content Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, reiterated the need to have regular dental check-ups to ensure teeth remain healthy.

Commenting on the results Dr Carter said: “These results are quite shocking. That such a large number of the public are unaware of this shows a general lack of knowledge about oral health.”

The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) asked 1,000 people about how diet could affect oral health care and found more than 50 per cent thought fruit smoothies would do no harm.

From May 16th to June 16th it is National Smile Month, which is run by the BDHF and this year’s campaign is ‘Teeth4Life‘ and will promote the importance of lifelong teeth care.

A survey carried out by the British Dental Health Foundation has shown how fad diets could be having an adverse impact on the oral health of Brits.

It showed that a third of UK adults do not spend the recommended amount of time brushing their teeth each day and the advent of fad diets, such as the maple syrup diet, means large amounts of sugar are not being cleaned from the tooth surface.

As a result, there are growing levels of tooth decay – especially for young women, for whom these diets are more popular.

Elsewhere, Dr Robert Macgregor – a Canadian dental professional – recently stated that smoking can lead to an array of problems, most of which will impact on the gums, as well as weakening the mouth’s defences against other oral health issues.

As such, he warned smokers to quit the habit, as it could be causing untold problems to their oral health.

A new chip could help solve the problem of not having dental records.

A new device that can be implanted into a tooth could help to save time and hassle for dental professionals.

The new I-Denti-Fied chip – designed by dentist Kevin Brunski – can be inserted into a tooth during a routine procedure and can be set to contain a person’s entire dental history.

In this way, a simple scan of a person’s mouth could provide dental professionals with their complete medical history, including any oral health problems, treatments they have received in the past, as well as their personal details.

Elsewhere, Cambridge dentist Dr Brian Swann recently claimed that he is on a mission to stamp out tooth decay and to educate people about good oral health so they can avoid painful trips to the emergency dentist.

He commented: “I’m proud that I’ve been able to do work that’s made a difference in people’s lives around the world.”