Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

W hen the discovery of ancient stone tools in Europe suggested that modern humans had been around for more than 40,000 years, the theory ignited a heated debate; apart from the tools, there was little evidence to prove the theory. Now however, scientists have the direct physical remains to prove it. The remains, which were un- earthed in the Grotta del Cavallo, Apulia, and Kents Cavern, Devon consist of two baby teeth and a jaw fragment; careful dating has revealed they are the earliest remains of Homo sapiens in Eu- rope, and are 41,000 and 45,000 years old. The findings confirm that modern humans were not alone when they conquered Europe and confirm that Homo sapi- ens shared the land with Nean- derthals. Although this recent discovery will answer some burning questions, it simultane- ously raises others such as how, and why, the Neanderthals be- came extinct. Could the Homo sapiens be blamed for their evo- lutionary cousins’ demise? “What’s significant about this work is that it increases the overlap and contemporaneity with Neanderthals,” explained Dr Tom Higham, from Oxford Uni- versity, who led the study on the British specimen found at Kents Cavern, Torquay. The teeth and jaw fragment have been known about for dec- ades; however, it is only now, thanks to modern technology and the team re-examining the shape of the teeth, including their inter- nal structure, that scientists can confirm that they are not that of Neanderthals. “We’ve done a new recon- struction, and we’ve actually found that one of the teeth was in the wrong place. That’s for start- ers,” said co-author Prof Chris Stringer, from London’s Natural History Museum, in a BBC report. “But we’ve also done a really detailed comparison, right down to the shape of the roots and in- ternal pulp cavities. We’ve gone to microscopic details to show this really is a modern human. You would never find a Neanderthal fossil that had this many modern human features.” DT Historical tooth T he issue of health in- equalities in today’s so- ciety has been causing a stir for some time, and now MPs have called for focus on the matter, and have claimed that greater efforts are needed to tackle the problem. In a new report, which ex- amines the government’s pro- posals for public health, MPs on the Health Select Commit- tee explained that the impor- tance of improving health pro- tection and reducing health inequalities had been spoken of. “It is an aspiration which we all share, but delivering the aspiration often involves fac- ing uncomfortable questions which it is easier to avoid,” said committee chairman Ste- phen Dorrell. “Those questions are likely to become even more difficult at a time when the NHS faces an unprecedented financial challenge,” he warned. According to a report in Net Doctor, David Buck, sen- ior fellow in public health and inequalities at the King’s Fund think-tank, welcomed the re- port and described the cur- rent lack of progress as ‘”the most significant health policy failure of the last decade.” He has since urged MPs to act on the committee’s recommenda- tions. It was also suggested by the committee that England’s new public health body must be ‘fearlessly independent’. DT Be ‘fearlessly independent’ Greater efforts are needed to bridge the inequality gap B ADN members voted to abolish the post of Chairman of Council, expanding the role of Presi- dent to encompass the duties of Chairman. The Motion to abolish the post of Chairman, which was proposed by a BADN mem- ber and supported by several Council members, was debat- ed at BADN’s well-attended AGM - held at Dental Show- case on Saturday 22 October 2011 – and passed by a 96 per cent majority vote. “BADN would like to thank past Chairman Angie McBain for her sterling work on behalf of the Association” said Presi- dent Nicola Docherty. “Angie has been a member of Coun- cil for more than ten years, having held the posts of Re- gional Coordinator, President, Chairman, acting Finance Of- ficer and Chair of the now-de- funct Sedation and Education Groups, and has represented the Association on several working groups and Commit- tees. We would like to wish her every success in her future en- deavours.” At the AGM, members also passed a Motion prohibiting past Presidents from standing for a second term. A third Mo- tion to make greater use of the BADN website for official no- tices was also passed. DT BADN AGM votes to abolish post of chairman BDAN President Nicola Docherty November 14-20, 20114 News United Kingdom Edition N ormal bacteria which live in our mouths pro- vide the catalyst for the development of gum disease, a debilitating condition which leads to painful gums and the loosening of teeth, new re- search from Queen Mary, Uni- versity of London has found. The unexpected finding could pave the way for the development of preventative measures in tackling gum, or periodontal disease*, by manipulating the normal bac- teria in the same way that pro- biotic yoghurt works to protect the intestine. Researchers at Queen Mary’s Blizard Institute, includ- ing Medical Research Coun- cil Clinical Research Training Fellow Mark Payne, worked with scientists in the US; they published their findings in the journal Cell Host and Microbe today (27 October). The scientists introduced the oral bacterium Porphy- romonas gingivalis to mice liv- ing in two different test condi- tions. The mice with normal bacteria in their mouths devel- oped periodontal bone loss but the mice raised under germ- free conditions, in the absence of any normal bacteria, re- mained disease-free. Professor Mike Curtis, Di- rector of the Blizard Institute and co-author on the paper, said when the oral bacterium P. gingivalis was introduced un- der normal conditions “it stim- ulated the growth of normal bugs leading to a large increase in the number of those organ- isms already there”. “P. gingivalis was intro- duced at very low levels yet it had a major effect on both the immune system and the inflam- matory system,” he said. “This oral bacterium only appears in small numbers but appears to have a major influ- ence on the overall ecology. It has a keystone effect in a com- munity – working in the same way that starfish, which have relatively small numbers, con- trol the shell fish communities in the sea. Professor Curtis said al- though the findings were en- couraging in terms of under- standing the way gum disease develops, there was still “some way to go” before there was a similar product on the market for gum disease as a probiotic yoghurt is available for the in- testine. “Now we know that peri- odontal disease only develops through P. gingivalis interact- ing with the existing bacteria in our mouths, we need to un- derstand the role played by our normal bacteria in both the de- velopment of disease and pro- tection from it,” he said. “This may then provide the means to develop preventative measures for the disease.” Professor Farida Fortune, Dean for Dentistry at Queen Mary said the research was en- couraging for people who suf- fer from gum disease which results in bleeding gums and ultimately loose teeth which cause difficulty in both speak- ing and eating. “The public still need to be mindfulofthewaytheylookafter their teeth and gums,” she said. “People need to pay more attention to their oral hygiene. Their local hygienist, dental therapist and dentist can all assist in teaching them ef- fective cleaning techniques. Just these simple preventative measures, as well as not smok- ing, will go some way to help- ing them avoid developing gum disease. DT Gum disease likes healthy mouths