Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition No. 9, 2016

04 Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition | 9/2016 UK NEWS Queen Mary makes headway in development of tooth-repairing fillings UK men concerned about their teeth Acknowledged for half a century of service By DTI LONDON, UK: In May, the first toothpaste containing bioactive glass was introduced to the public at Queen Mary University of Lon- don. Recently, a group of research- ers from the university’s Institute of Dentistry has reported new data that demonstrate that the material has the potential to pro- hibit the formation of bacteria that cause caries and repair it through remineralisation when used in dental fillings. According to Prof. Robert Hill, who led the group, the bioactive glass composite remineralised partially decayed teeth and cre- ated an alkaline environment that discouraged the bacteria that caused the initial decay. It also filled in the gaps with tooth min- eral, thus preventing the oral bac- teria that cause caries from estab- lishing themselves. “Research in the US suggests this will potentially prolong the life of fillings and slow secondary tooth decay because the depth of bacterial penetration with bioac- tive glass fillings was significantly smaller than for inert fillings,” he said. Currently, the average Brit has seven fillings in his or her mouth, the majority of which are of amal- gam, which is placed into eight million new cavities every year, according to government figures. A new material able to repair teeth would provide the possibility of replacing the potentially toxic material and would mean a signif- icant step forward in tooth restor- ative materials, according to Hill. “There is huge pressure to elim- inate mercury-based amalgam fill- ings by 2020 which is outlined in a host of international agreements. Using this type of bioactive glass compositetofillcavitieseliminates the need to use mercury-based amalgam by offering aesthetic white fillings which help heal the tooth,” commented CEO of BioMin Technologies Richard Whatley, who licensed the technology from Queen Mary Innovations. “We plan to translate the remineralising technology developed with the BioMinF toothpaste into restora- tive dental products.” Toothpaste with bioactive glass has been on the market in the UK and elsewhere in Europe since May this year. It is currently available in pharmacies in India through a partnership between BioMin and Group Pharmaceutical and antici- pated to be available in China and the US by the end of the year. De- veloped to adhere to tooth struc- ture through a special polymer, bi- oactive glass slowly dissolves ions that form fluorapatite, a mineral also found in shark teeth, over an 8–12-hour period to make teeth more resistant to acids from food. According to Hill, the process has been proven to be more effective than the use of fluorides in conven- tional toothpastes or professional prophylaxis materials, which are washed away and lose their ef- fect more quickly. In addition, the fluorapatite formed from brush- ing with BioMinF toothpaste has shown to effectively reduce den- tine hypersensitivity by sealing open dentinal tubules in in vitro studies at Queen Mary. By DTI LONDON, UK: The look of their teeth is of great importance to Brit- ishmen.Morethanaquarterwould choose to have their teeth straight- ened if they could, according to a new survey that asked men about the one thing they would like to change about their appearance. A significant 63 per cent of men would investigate means of treatment to have their teeth aligned if they had concerns in this regard, it also found. The results are from a survey conducted by media intelligence provider Gorkana on behalf of clear aligner manufacturer Align Technology on men’s confidence in their appearance and the likeli- hood of them seeking treatments to address physical imperfec- tions. According to the survey, al- most one in two men have had great concerns about their appear- ance in the past and these occa- sionally prevented them from dating. While men from Scotland, the North East and London were found to be the most content with their appearance and teeth, men surveyed in the South West and West Midlands were less likely to consider themselves happy with how they looked. Those least satisfied with their appearance were from Yorkshire and the Humber. Although men between the ages of 18 and 24 felt it was wrong for men to take steps to change their appearance, they were also the age group most likely to have looked into treat- ments to alter their appearance. Londoners were most likely to look for ways to change how they look. One in three ad- mitted that they were considering treatment for their imperfec- tions, such as straightening their teeth. The survey was conducted among all age and socio-economic groups, as well as geographical regions, in the UK. By DTI CARDIFF, UK: When Liz Hooper become a Saturday girl at a local dental office in Treharris, the BBC was still broadcasting in black and white, the English foot- ball team was considered world class and the average house cost less than £4,000. Five decades later, she is still very active at the University Dental Hospital (UDH) in Cardiff, where she started her NHS career as a dental nurse in 1966. After having completed her training as a dental nurse, for which she applied after reading an advert in the South Wales Echo newspaper, and working in that position for a year, she assumed the post of Senior Dental Nurse Tutor at UDH Cardiff, a position she still holds today. In addition to that, she worked as Dental Nurse Manager at the same hospital from 1996 to 1997. During her long years of ser- vice, for her, the most important thing has remained the patients. “I still see people today who I treated years ago,” she com- mented. “I always try to address them by their names so that they know I remember who they are— it’s important to me.” According to Hooper, she has never missed a single day owing to sickness during her 50 years of service. “It has been an absolute pleas- ure to work alongside Liz,” said Beverly Withers, interim Dental Nurse Manager at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and one of Hooper’s trainees. “She is well known and respected in the dental world, devoting much of her working life to dental nursing and dental nurse training includ- ing the South Wales evening course, training thousands of den- tal nurses during 40 years.” Referring to her nickname of “The Oracle”, Withers added: “She is the go-to person to find out any- thing which is dental related.” “I’d like to say a big thank you to Liz for her commitment and dedication to dental nursing. It is a fantastic achievement to have completed nearly 50 years of ser- vice and to have never taken a day’s sick during this time is truly amazing,” said Hayley Dixon, Di- rector of Operations for the Dental Clinical Board. Toothpaste with bioactive glass has been available on the market since May this year. © DTI Maria Battle, Chair of Cardiff and Vale UHB (left) presented Liz (right) with flowers and gifts during a special afternoon tea with her colleagues who she trained. © Cardiff University

Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition No. 9, 2016

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