Glasgow and Dundee Universities have jointly been awarded £132,000 from the Scottish Funding Council in order to tackle ongoing issues with their dental services. The money is expected to go towards improving the treatment for oral cancer and birth defects like cleft palates. Joint initiatives between the two schools are also thought to be on the agenda, pooling their resources to build research programmes and seek additional funding.
Dean of dentistry at Dundee University, Prof. Mark Hector, spoke about the ‘unenviable reputation’ that Scotland held in the UK and throughout Europe, referring to it’s poor treatment of oral diseases like caries and cleft lips, as well as some types of cancer.
He said; ‘This funding will facilitate a greater level of effective collaboration between experts in dental research and dental public health at the universities of Dundee and Glasgow to accelerate progress towards finding solutions to such problems and implementing them with a beneficial impact on the health of the population of Scotland and beyond. ’
Head of the Dental School at the University of Glasgow was in agreement, saying that the money would present them with ‘an excellent opportunity’ to improve their services and build on their research platforms. He added; ‘It will ensure that there is synergy and a sharing of expertise, which will help both institutions to deliver research outputs relevant to the Scottish population and enhance their positions and research reputations within the UK and internationally. ’