Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

PUBLISHED IN LONDON T he British Dental Asso- ciation (BDA) is calling on the Department of Health (DH) to ensure that this year’s dental graduates are not left without a dental foundation training (DFT) place when they have graduated. This is in response to the situ- ation last year, which left 35 UK dental graduates without a DFT place, and comes after the an- nouncement by COPDEND (The UK Committee of Postgraduate Dental Deans and Directors) that 1,139 applicants, of whom 1,026 are students or recent graduates of UK dental schools, have been invited to take part in the assess- ment centres to compete for an estimated 952 funded training posts in NHS practices. Commenting on the situation, Dr Judith Husband, BDA Chair of Ethics, Education and the Dental Committee, said: “COPDEND’s announcement raises the spectre of another year of heartbreak for dental students and squandered public money. Denying UK gradu- ates who want to undertake foun- dation training a place serves the interests of neither patients, tax- payers nor the graduates them- selves. The Department of Health must consider this an early warn- ing and act now to ensure that 2013 does not see a repeat of the senseless situation that has been witnessed this year.” Dental Tribune spoke to CDO for England Dr Barry Cockcroft about the BDA’s concerns. He stated: “Last year over 97 per cent of UK graduates got a place on a foundation training scheme at the first time of asking and I suspect, although I don’t know, that the people who didn’t have now ap- plied in this year as well. “On top of that, the actual number of applications this year is lower than last year. We do know that some people who have applied to the scheme have applied in Scotland as well. We also know that last year the Na- tional Health Service came up with extra training places later on in the year when the finan- cial situation was clearer and I would fully expect that to hap- pen again. “I think there were lessons learnt last year and the com- munications to students will be better and also better timed this year; but for the vast majority of students they will get a greater degree of security from this pro- cess much earlier than they used to do under the old system. “At the end of the day the fact is that legally this is employ- ment. We know that last year a significant number of graduates, from the Irish Republic espe- cially, were successful in get- ting places in open competition. However, as it is employment we cannot discriminate against ap- plicants from the EU in applying for these posts when actually the salary is very attractive. It’s very attractive in comparison to other graduates in England and cer- tainly very attractive when you compare it to other countries in Europe as regards dentistry.” A spokesman for COPDEND commented: “COPDEND has is- sued a press statement that ac- curately describes the current situation regarding dental foun- dation training applications. “We won’t know for sure until next June how many UK undergraduate applicants will have passed their finals, nor how many of those who have applied will choose not to take up a place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, if they are offered one. We also won’t know until April if any additional training places will be approved or funded. We acknowledge that these figures may cause some anxiety for ap- plicants to dental foundation training, and would like to reas- sure them that we are doing all we can to ensure a fair and eq- uitable process and to recruit as many high quality training prac- tices as we can. Dental Founda- tion training is a period of em- ployment and we are complying with UK employment law.” DT Avoid UK graduate foundation training fiasco, BDA warns Association calls for action over DFT places November 12 - 18, 2012 VOL. 6 NO. 26 Magical mystery tooth tour John Lennon’s tooth is to go on a tour of dental practices in a bid to promote aware- ness of oral cancer. Author, dentist and celebrity tooth collector Michael Zuk paid £19,000 for the tooth at auc- tion. Part of the tooth has now been turned into a necklace by Beverly Hills jewellery designer Ari Soffer. Named the John Lennon DNA Tooth Necklace, it has been valued at £15,600. Over the next few weeks, the tooth necklace is being passed around 16 prac- tices to highlight Mouth Can- cer Action Month, which will include free mouth screen- ings, promotions and fund- raising events at each of the practices. Lennon originally gave the tooth to his former housekeeper Dot Jarlett at some point between 1964 and 1968, who in turn gave it to her daughter. No laughing matter For the second time in a few days, the staff of a Califor- nian children’s dental office came to work to find their nitrous oxide cylinder miss- ing, according to a story re- ported in the Times Herald. Theft of the large containers of nitrous oxide is a com- mon problem for dentists in the area. “It happens every year, they come along and try to steal our nitrous,” Stacy Tolman-Cordero, dental as- sistant at Vaelljo Children’s Dentistry said. “This is the third time this year.” Tol- man-Cordero said this is not a new problem, and that she suspect the thieves are using the gas to get high or selling it to others for that purpose, despite its being potentially deadly. Outstanding student award Nick Dilworth, Managing Director of Practice Plan, proudly presented a Warwick Dentistry ‘Outstanding Stu- dent Award’ 2012 to James Stafford - who was studying his Masters in Implantology. The annual awards aim to recognise those who have proved to be outstanding in their studies. Every nominee would have demonstrated a passion for their studies, achieved excellent grades and surely made some sac- rifices along the way. James received his award for achieving the highest overall percentage in his Masters of Implantology. www.dental-tribune.co.uk Performing Dentistry Neel Kothari discusses UDAs Social Media Marketing Rita Zamora discusses how not to get it wrong EndoVac Daniela Mancuso presents a report News in Brief Social Media ClinicalCommentNews Move over Movember This month is Mouth Cancer Action Month page 2 pages 8-9 pages 12-13 pages 21-22