Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

PUBLISHED IN LONDON October 2013 VOL. 7 NO 12 Bad teeth among athletes Athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games had ‘strik- ing’ levels of bad teeth, say researchers. A team at Univer- sity College London says many competitors had bad dental problems, with large amounts of carbohydrates and sugary energy drinks consumed regu- larly causing the damage. The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, looked at competitors visiting the dental clinic at the Games. Of the 302 athletes examined, 55 per cent had evidence of cavities, 45 per cent had tooth erosion and 76 per cent had gum disease. One in three said their oral health affected their quality of life and one in five said it affected training or ath- letic performance. Stress on the immune system from in- tense training may also leave athletes at risk of oral disease. Cigarette health warnings Barely a third (35 per cent) of teenagers in the South East are deterred from smoking by cur- rent cigarette packs, compared to nearly half (48 per cent) of teenagers in Australia, where packs are almost entirely cov- ered by graphic warnings, a survey has revealed. The Brit- ish Heart Foundation’s (BHF) poll found that 75 per cent of teenagers in the South East think the UK should introduce standardised cigarette packs. It was also found that 59 per cent of teens in Australia think graphic images on packaging deter people their age from smoking. The European Parlia- ment is set to vote on key leg- islation tomorrow (8 October 2013) that would see cigarette packs across the EU feature larger graphic health warnings on both sides of the box. Guilty beautician A beautician has pleaded guilty to unlawfully practising den- tistry by carrying out tooth whiteningtreatment.MsElaine Taylor-Valles is the first person to be prosecuted by the Gen- eral Dental Council (GDC) since the High Court upheld the view that tooth whitening is the practise of dentistry and should only be carried out by dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists, working on the prescription of a dentist. Ms Taylor-Valles has been given a nine month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £350 towards the GDC’s costs. During sentencing at Preston Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Goodwin said: “I accept that Ms Taylor-Valles had done a teeth whitening course, how- ever she did not ring the Gen- eral Dental Council to confirm whether she was allowed to do tooth whitening.” DT www.dental-tribune.co.uk LIFESAVER app The revolutionary way to save lives MSc Oliver Harman on his Msc journey Oral cancer Stephen Porter on the risk factors News in Brief Showcase TribuneInterview FeatureNews 3D printed toothbrush Cleans teeth in six seconds page 2 page 9 pages 12-13pages 6-7 T he BDA’s General Den- tal Practice Committee (GDPC) met on Oct 4. The meeting was dominated by an angry discussion about the disastrous financial impact on the BDA that the new member- ship structure has had GDPC members received a presentation from Richard Shil- ling, the BDA’s Financial Direc- tor, at which he stated: “We have to cut staff, services and other costs, in order to enable us to make the savings needed under our proposed recovery plan”. Whilst taking questions from Committee members, the Fi- nance Director admitted that 25 whole time or equivalent posts have been put at risk of redundancy already, represent- ing nearly 20% of the total BDA staff capacity across the UK, and management continue to invite further voluntary redundan- cies from across the staff. The Finance Director also admitted that the BDA may well need to look at a further round of redun- dancies, as part of a deeper cost- savings exercise. Martin Fallowfield, Chair of the BDA’s Principle Executive Committee (PEC), struggled to answer the many angry ques- tions from Committee members about how such a wildly mis- calculated new membership structure had been introduced without proper planning for the worst case scenario. The BDA Finance Director told the meeting that there is currently a recurring shortfall in subscriptions of about £2.5m and a projected ‘worst case’ deficit of £3.4m. One GDPC member, who wished to remain anonymous, commented: “Simple maths tells me that the BDA needs to recruit about 8,500 new members at the ‘Essential’ level of BDA mem- bership, in order to make up a £2.5m shortfall in this first year. And even that would still leave the organisation with no finan- cial reserves unless savings are made from other areas. “Surely this model should have been more carefully consid- ered by the management team and by the Principle Executive Committee? I gather less than 10% of the membership was lost during the transition to this new structure. It is clear to me that this is not a problem with mem- ber loyalty, this is about manage- ment incompetence.” The BDA is now in the pro- cess of convening an Emergen- cy General Meeting of the UK Council. Under the BDA’s Arti- cles of Association, the UK Coun- cil has the power to dismiss the Principle Executive Committee and to call new elections. Speaking with a member of the Smile-on News team, one senior BDA executive has raised the question of the viability of some members of the PEC and the CEO’s position and suggest- ed that now may be the time for some to ‘fall on their swords’. Martin Fallowfield, Chair, BDA Principal Executive Com- mittee, said: “The BDA’s mem- bership structure needed to change. It was not financially viable and it was not fair to members; some were paying for services they seldom required while others were heavily using services for which their mem- bership fees did not pay. “The new system is fair be- cause it links services received to membership fee paid. Mem- bers choose the membership package that is appropriate for them and they pay for it. It also establishes a sustainable finan- Senior BDA executive tells boss to quit BDA crisis deepens after angry GDPC meeting page 3DTà