Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

PUBLISHED IN LONDON March & April 2013 Price Beating Spring Offers 0800 132 373 Topdental will donate £1 to Comic relief for every Virofex Starter Kit Sold during March & April* Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales; SCO39730 (Scotland) FREE 19”Flatscreen TVwhen orderingBoss Klein Surface Wipes* 24 page Offer Brochure now available www.topdental.org Buy 2 and get 1 FREE ! on all sizes* Self Seal Sterilisation Pouches Buy 2 and get 1 FREE TGI Glass IonomerRefill Dental Tribune_Front page March 2013 1 19/02/2013 12:38 February 25-March 3, 2013 VOL. 7 NO 4 Biodegradable toothbrush packaging wins award A new toothbrush packag- ing has won an award for its biodegradable proper- ties. The packaging ‘Dis- solve’ has won third place in Remarkable Packaging & Alternative 2012. The pa- per packaging, designed by Simon Laliberte, is made with a cellulose-based com- pound of tree pulp which can be dissolved complete- ly in water in less than ten seconds. To open the packaging, it can be simply washed away, never to be seen again. Teeth are biggest attrac- tion A study carried out by Match.com has revealed that we judge the opposite sex mostly on their teeth. The study was carried out over three years and the results have produced a top ten list of things that men judge women on, and vice versa. Over half of the list focused on appear- ance, with 58 per cent of men judging women on their teeth, and 72 per cent of women judging men on their teeth. Grammar took second place, followed by hair and clothes. Wal-Mart ‘steals’ dentist’s idea According to DrBicuspid. com, dentist Kianor Shah has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart, claiming the re- tail chain stole his idea for putting dental clinics into its stores. Dr. Shah claims he pitched the idea of open- ing low-cost, full-service dental offices in big-box retailers to Wal-Mart. Af- ter the chain committed to Dr. Shah’s idea, store offi- cials subsequently rejected the proposal, according to his complaint. Dr. Shah al- leges that Wal-Mart then shared his idea for the dental clinics with Kent Reeves, former Wal-Mart vice president of business development, and Ken An- tos, a restaurant business partner. In 2012, Wal-Mart opened a clinic that was inspired by Dr. Shah in its Moreno Valley, CA, store, run by Reeves, Antos, and a third business partner, ac- cording to the lawsuit. The suit alleges the entire plan for the in-store clinic is an exact duplicate of the ideas Dr. Shah originally shared with Wal-Mart, down to the very type of dental chairs used. www.dental-tribune.co.uk Benefits of blackberries The berry could treat gum disease Implant system Dentists look at the Camlog system Neel Kothari How practical are the new dental pilots? News in Brief ClinicalOpinion Perio TribuneNews Alcohol Drinkers underestimate unit intake page 6 page 12 pages 24-27pages 9-10 General Dental Council welcomes PSA report GDC welcomes findings of the independent inquiry T he inquiry by the Profes- sional Standards Author- ity for Health and Social Care was conducted in response to concerns raised by the former GDC Chair, Alison Lockyer who steppeddowninMay2011.InJune 2011, the Department of Health asked CHRE to investigate the concerns raised by Alison Lock- yer in her letter of resignation. Alison Lockyer made a num- ber of serious allegations about the quality of the GDC’s govern- ance arrangements and on the Council’s ability to progress mat- ters which are important to public protection. Among the allegations, Ali- son said that those who stood up against the executive’s decisions were threatened with complaints being made against them, thereby preventingExecutiveEvlynneGil- varry from being held to account. She also stated that the quality and quantity of information shared with her as Chair was inadequate to enable the executive to be held to account, and that the impact of this was slow progress by the GDC to improve its performance in known areas of weakness. Following a investigation which began in September 2011, the report rejects the allegations made against the GDC and its staff. It found that, while there were weaknesses in the GDC’s governance and fitness to prac- tise processes during 2009 to early 2011, the GDC did not fail patients then, and is on the right track now. Chair Kevin O’Brien said: “We welcome the findings of the PSA’s report and the opportunity to draw a line under this matter. We will review all aspects of the report to ensure we are acting on any les- sons to be learnt and we are very pleased that the PSA gives a clear endorsement of reforms we have already introduced. Kevin Lewis, Dental Director of Dental Protection, added: “Clearly, the GDC is in a better place now than it was during the turbulent period which may have contributed in part to the events that are chronicled by this report. In particular, the early stages of the FtP procedures have been overhauled and this process of improvement is continuing. We welcome that, and also the spirit in which the GDC has acknowl- edged that all was not well when we first voiced our own concerns. Peter Ward, the Chief Ex- ecutive of the BDA, commented: “This report identifies deeply concerning failings around the departure of Dr Lockyer from her role at the GDC. The mishandling of proceedings that is spelt out in this report is astonishing. For a professional regulator to have made such errors in the handling of proceedings is deeply troubling. “Dentistry needs a strong reg- ulator in which practitioners and patientsalikecanhaveconfidence. The GDC will have a great deal ofworktodotoassuagethedoubts about it that will have been engen- dered by its handling of Dr Lock- yer and convince the profession that it really has achieved the im- provements in its regulatory per- formance that the PSA identifies.” Alison Lockyer said: “I am pleased that a light has been shone on some of the problems to which I was seeking to draw at- tention and if, as a result of this, the task of my successors is easier, I can take considerable comfort from that. “It is nevertheless disappoint- ing that the opportunity for a full investigation has been missed and the report from the Professional Standards Authority confines itself to the issues specified by the De- partment of Health. “I am proud to have given over 11 years of service to my profes- sionalregulatorybodyandamvery grateful for all the support, both personal and professional.” DT