Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

I t takes both teeth and jaws to make a pretty smile, but the evolutionary origins of these parts of our anatomy have only just been discov- ered, thanks to a particle ac- celerator and a long dead fish. All living jawed vertebrates (animals with backbones, such as humans) have teeth, but it has long been thought that the first jawed vertebrates lacked pearly gnashers, instead cap- turing prey with gruesome scissor-like jaw bones. However new research, led by the University of Bristol and published in Nature, shows that these earliest jawed ver- tebrates possessed teeth too indicating that teeth evolved along with, or soon after, the evolution of jaws. Palaeontologists from Bris- tol, the Natural History Mu- seum and Curtin University, Australia collaborated with physicists from Switzerland to study the jaws of a primitive jawed fish called Compago- piscis. The international team studied fossils of Compago- piscis using high energy X- rays at the Swiss Light Source at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland, revealing the structure and development of teeth and bones. Lead author, Dr Martin Ruecklin of the University of Bristol said: “We were able to visualise every tissue, cell and growth line within the bony jaws, allowing us to study the development of the jaws and teeth. We could then make comparisons with the embry- ology of living vertebrates, thus demonstrating that pla- coderms possessed teeth.” Co-author, Professor Philip Donoghue of the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences said: “This is solid evidence for the presence of teeth in these first jawed ver- tebrates and solves the debate on the origin of teeth.” DT The origins of our pretty smile? A long dead fish I n a move to recognise and support the professional development of Specialty Dental Members of world- wide Royal Surgical Colleges, RCSEd’s Faculty of Dental Surgery has announced the launch of a new Dental Fellow- ship without Examination. This new route to Fellow- ship allows dental profession- als holding a Specialty Dental Membership an opportunity to access the FDS RCS(Edin) with- out Examination through writ- ten application. It is a qualifica- tion of the highest order which few previously had the opportu- nity to achieve, and one which no other Royal Surgical College currently offers. Explaining more about this new Fellowship, Professor Rich- ard Ibbetson, Dean of the RCSEd Dental Faculty said: “The Fel- lowship in Dental Surgery is internationally recognised as the highest College award in dentistry and we are delighted to invite colleagues holding a Specialty Dental Membership from one of the Surgical Royal Colleges worldwide to apply to become a Fellow with us. “We recognise that currently there are few opportunities for Specialty Members to achieve the Fellowship in Dental Sur- gery (FDS) and this new initia- tive is designed to support the professional development of this group of dental profession- als - irrespective of their College of affiliation - whilst at the same time, allowing them to become involved with RCSEd activities at the highest level. “This move is in keeping with RCSEd’s dedication to pro- moting the highest standards of patient care and of professional development and our Faculty of Dental Surgery looks forward to welcoming holders of Specialty Membership qualifications as Fellows in Dental Surgery of this College. We hope this move will allow Specialty Members the opportunity to engage more with us and the future direction of the Faculty.” Applications must be made in writing to the RCSEd Faculty of Dental Surgery. Further de- tails about the criteria and ap- plication process can be found at www.rcsed.ac.uk or by email- ing l.stuart@rcsed.ac.uk. DT New Fellowship without Examination launched The Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh G ene therapy can be performed safely in the human salivary gland, according to scientists at the US National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health. This finding comes from the first-ever safety, or Phase I, clinical study of gene therapy in a human salivary gland. Its results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienc- es, also show that the trans- ferred gene, Aquaporin-1, has great potential to help head and neck cancer survivors who battle with chronic dry mouth. Aquaporin-1 encodes a protein that naturally forms pore-like water channels in the membranes of cells to help move fluid, such as occurs when salivary gland cells secrete saliva into the mouth. These initial re- sults clear the way for addi- tional gene therapy studies in the salivary glands. While attending to patients in the NIDCR’s Dry Mouth Clinic, Bruce Baum, lead au- thor on the study, encountered numerous people with head and neck cancer who had received radiation thera- py to shrink their tumours. The radiation, while effective in treating cancer, had in- advertently damaged nearby salivary glands, compromis- ing their ability to secrete saliva into the mouth, and leaving them with a perma- nent parched sensation in the mouth. The scientists gave 11 head and neck cancer survivors a single-dose injection of the Aquaporin-1 gene directly into one of their two parotid sali- vary glands, the largest of the major salivary glands. The scientists found that five participants had in- creased levels of saliva se- cretion, as well as a renewed sense of moisture and lubri- cation in their mouths, within the study’s first 42 days, the period covered in this report. Of the six who didn’t benefit from gene therapy, none had serious side effects. “It is time to evaluate a different vector to deliver the Aquaporin-1 gene, one that will cause only a minimal im- mune response,” said Baum. “But these data will serve as stepping stones for other sci- entists to improve on this first attempt in the years ahead. The future for applications of gene therapy in the salivary gland is bright.’’ DT Gene therapy benefits cancer survivors N ASDAL are advising all dentists to think twice be- fore going into a dental partnershipwithafamilymember. Some smaller practices com- prise a partnership between a dentist and their spouse, but if the spouse is not a General Den- tal Council (GDC) registrant, this may be illegal. Nick Hancock is a Chartered Accountant and a NASDAL mem- ber who was asked for advice by a dentist in partnership with his wife, the practice manager. “I had to inform the dentist that he should dissolve the partnership. Under The Dentists Act 1984 it states ‘…an individual who is not a registered dentist or a registered medical practitioner shall not car- ry on the business of dentistry…” Damien Charlton, a member of the NASDAL Lawyers Group says there is an exception. “When the practice holds a General Den- tal Services (GDS) contract, the National Health Service Act 2006 permits certain non-GDC regis- trants - including a GDS practice employee - to enter a GDS con- tract. The Dentists Act states that receiving income under a GDS contract is not deemed, for the purposes of that Act, to be carry- ing on the business of dentistry.” He added: “It‘s essential that the partnership formed for the purposes of the GDS contract is kept separate from any private work carried out by the practice because it is only receipt of in- come under a GDS contract that falls within the exception to the definition of “the business of den- tistry. This means (amongst other things) keeping separate sets of accounts and ensuring that the non-GDC registrant does not re- ceive any income from the non- GDS parts of the practice.” Dentists in an ‘illegal part- nership’ are strongly advised to dissolve it. Once the partnership has been dissolved, the registered dentist can continue to trade in a different format. DT Is your dental partnership legal? Aquaporin-1-Primary-antibodies November 19-25, 20124 News United Kingdom Edition