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SHOWTRIBUNE The World’s Event Newspaper · United Kingdom Edition Published in London www.dental-tribune.co.uk Vol. 9, No. 5 By DTI In October, the National Exhibition in Birmingham becomes the epi- centre of all things dentistry in the UK again. This year’s show, which follows a highly successful edition in London, promises to set another milestone with hundreds of dental companies, dealers and service providers showcasing their port- folio of innovative products and solutions for dental practices and laboratories. Some of them will be available to dental professionals in the UK for the first time,such as the TS1TongueSanitizer,arevolutionary device that simply fits onto the saliva ejector and effectively re- moves bacterial tongue coatings in just one minute. On display will also be new and updated equipment such as hand- pieces, dental units, practice man- agement systems or whitening solutions. Overall, up to 350 dental companies have registered for this year’s exhibition, which will run from 22–24 October at Britain’s largest convention and exhibition centre. “There is no better way to see, touch and use all manner of dental equipment. With over 300 ex- hibitors Showcase is a great oppor- tunity for the whole team to keep uptodatewithavastrangeofprod- ucts,frominstrumentsanddevices totechnology,software,regulation and government policy. In fact, all the things needed to keep your practice one step ahead,”said BDIA president Mike Cann. Along with the industry show- case, over 100 mini-lectures will be held over all three days, including product presentations and papers on clinical issues discussed by na- tionally distinguished experts. By attending these lectures, visitors are entitled to continuing profes- sional development certification. Instructions on how to obtain the certificates are provided on the show’s website. Visitors who have not registered fortheshowinadvancecanstillgain admissiononsite.Dailynewsandup- datesfromtheshowwillbeavailable attheDTUKwebsiteandthroughthe dailyDentalTribuneUK newsletter. To access thenewsstream,please scanthisQRcodewith yourmobiledevice. In response to an increase in counterfeit and unapproved dental products seized in the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regula- toryAgency(MHRA)launched an initiative in partnership with the British Dental Indus- try Association (BDIA) last year to make dental profes- sionals aware of the dangers these products can pose to their own and their patient’s safety. Dental Tribune had the opportunity to speak with in- vestigator Maxine Marshall, who will discuss the dangers of buying dental products online during her mini-lecture programme in Birmingham, about the out- come and what needs to be done to ensure the removal of these products from the market. Dental Tribune: Last year saw a worrying number of counterfeit or unapproved dental goods be- ing seized in the UK.Were the ma- jority of these products pur- chased online? MaxineMarshall:Mostofthem were. In the years 2013 and 2014, we seized about 12,000 indi- vidual pieces of dental equip- ment, with the majority being curing lights, dental handpieces, files, pliers and other equip- ment that dentists use. That was quite a large seizure for that year. What is the estimated number of unknown cases? Unfortunately, we do not knowandthisisoneofreasons that we are continuing our work with the BDIA. This year, ourmainfocusistocommuni- cate to health professionals that they need to report to us. If there is an incident with the equipment purchased or if they think it is not what they had bought, instead of dispos- ing of it, they should submit areport.Anynon-compliantor counterfeit medical device is a risk to public safety or patient safety.Ourmainobjectiveisto try to stop such products com- ing into the UK at the port of entry, but we can only do that if we can tracetheproductbacktothesource from which it was purchased. Purchases of critical devices can be made through various chan- nels nowadays.What are the ones to be the most cautious of and what product categories are the most sought after? Online purchases are made mainly through eBay or Google. There, one can simply search for handpieces or curing lights, for example, and from there be taken totherespectivewebsites.Thema- jority of the devices that we seize in the UK come from China via the ports and quite often through ful- filment houses. Of most concern are dental handpieces, especially those that run at very high speeds. If something happens in the pa- tient’s mouth when using such a device, it can be quite nasty. Together with the BDIA, you launched the Counterfeit and sub- standard Instruments and Devices Initiative last year to heighten awarenessoftheseproductsamong dental professionals. Have these efforts paid off in your opinion? From 2014 to 2015, we have ac- tually seen a reduction in the number of investigations we con- ducted. Our latest figures are from fourweeksago.Wehopethatmuch of it has to do with the work that wearedoingwiththeBDIA.Ontop of that, the MHRA, General Dental Council and NHS England have formed a working group over the last 12 months and they regularly discuss the issue of dental equip- ment. All these organisations have alsosentoutmessagestoallhealth professionals through publica- tions and general lines of commu- nication to raise dentists’ aware- ness of the importance of buying from reputable sources. Would you say that awareness among dental professionals has generally improved? We hope it has, considering the amount of work we have put into this. This matter is something we want to focus on at the BDIA Den- tal Showcase. One of the things we need to do is to talk to dentists at our stand and ask them if they have seen anything we put out on this issue. Hopefully from that, we will receive positive feedback. I do believe the message is getting out there, if not initially to every- one, but we are getting there. Thank you very much for the inter- view. “Any non-compliant or counterfeit medical device is a risk to public safety” An interview with MHRA investigator and BDIA Dental Showcase presenter Maxine Marshall, London Maxine Marshall NEC welcomes dental professionals to BDIA Dental Showcase 2015 DTUK0515_09-10_STBdia 15.10.15 12:04 Seite 1 DTUK0515_09-10_STBdia 15.10.1512:04 Seite 1