DTUK1210

Published by Dental Tribune UK Ltd © 2010, Dental Tribune UK Ltd. All rights reserved. Dental Tribune UK Ltd makes every effort to report clinical information and manufacturer’s product news accurately, but cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims, or for typographical errors. The publishers also do not assume responsibility for product names or claims, or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Dental Tribune International. Managing Director Mash Seriki Mash@dentaltribuneuk.com Director Noam Tamir Noam@dentaltribuneuk.com Editor Lisa Townshend Tel: 020 7400 8979 Lisa@dentaltribuneuk.com Features Editor Ellie Pratt Ellie@dentaltribuneuk.com Advertising Director Joe Aspis Tel: 020 7400 8969 Joe@dentaltribuneuk.com Sales Executive Sam Volk Tel: 020 7400 8964 Sam@dentaltribuneuk.com Marketing Manager Laura McKenzie Laura@dentaltribuneuk.com Design & Production Keem Chung Keem@dentaltribuneuk.com Dental Tribune UK Ltd 4th Floor, Treasure House, 19–21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8BA T he oral health of the na- tion looks set to improve as more smokers kick the habit. Almost 250,000 people in England stopped smoking be- tween 1 April and 31 December 2009, a rise of 10 per cent com- pared to the same period in 2008 – according to the results of a new national survey. Results from the NHS Stop Smoking Services survey also showed that more than another 375,000 of the coun- try’s smokers have decided to kick the habit for good and set a quit date. Chief executive of the Brit- ish Dental Health Found- ation, Dr Nigel Carter, has wel- comed the results but insists that more needs to be done to educate people on the hazards of smoking. Dr Carter said: “Most people arenow aware that smoking is bad for our health. It can cause many different medical problems and in some cases fatal diseases. However, many people do not rea- lise the damage that smoking does to their mouth, gums and teeth.” “Smokingcanleadtotoothsta- ining, gum disease and tooth loss. “When people think of the dangers of smoking they instant- ly think of lung and throat can- cer, but many are still unaware that it is one of the main causes of mouth cancer too.” He added: “Mouth cancer can appear in different forms and can affect all parts of the mouth, tongue and lips. It can appear as a painless mouth ulcer that does not heal normally. A white or red patch in the mouth can also develop into a cancer. It is important to visit your dentist if these areas do not heal within three weeks.” Tobacco remains the lead- ing cause of mouth cancer in the UK, with cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking the main forms of use. However, the traditional ethnic habits of chewing tobacco, betel quid, gutkha and paan are par- ticularly dangerous. Mouth cancer has become one of the UK’s fastest growing cancers, diagnosing more than 5,000 people every year. Without early diagnosis cha- nces of survival can plummet down to 50 per cent. The Foundation encourages members of the public with any concerns about their oral health to contact the National Dental Helpline on 0845 063 1188. DT N HS boards in Scotland are meeting the national stand- ards to provide out-of-hours emergency dental services, according to a new report. NHS Quality Improvement Scot- land (NHS QIS) reviewed individual NHS boards and found that all boards had the correct measures in place to treat patients with dental problems outside normal working hours. NHS Fife showed evidence of so- called ‘optimised’ services, meaning they showed exceptional performance. The boards were assessed against three key standards: accessibility and availability at first point of contact; safe and effective care; audit, moni- toring and reporting. Jan Warner, director of patient safety and performance assessment for NHS QIS, said: “Good dental care is critical to our quality of life.” She added: “It is clear that NHS boards have put a lot of work into establishing emergency serv- ices and these are now in place across Scotland.” While public health minister Shona Robison said: “It is excellent news that this service has made such good progress.” The oral health of the popu- lation of Scotland is generally poor, with 35 per cent of adults and 17 per cent of children not registered with a dentist. However, members of the public who have an emergency dental problem can access out-of- hours emergency dental care. This service is provided by NHS 24 in partnership with NHS boards on 0845 242424. DT A dentist receptionist was ‘unfairly dismissed’ from her job, after she be- gan an affair with a married colleague, a tribunal in Rea- ding found. Tanya Henderson, 21, began having a secret affair with her married colleague, Alamain Sal- im, at Riverside Dental Practice in Caversham, Berkshire. Salim did not see his wife very often because she lived abroad. However, when his wife moved to the UK, Mr Salim al- legedly told Ms Henderson that he wanted to rebuild his marriage and wanted their af- fair to stop. Ms Henderson claims that when their colleagues suspe- cted the two were having an af- fair, she became the victim of practical jokes. She claimed that a colleague uploaded pornography onto her computer and when it appeared, the practice owner Changiz Fa- hami told Ms Henderson she was too young to be looking at the images and gave her a slap on the head. Mr Fahami claims the af- fair caused a lot of problems at the surgery and said he told Mr Salim that either he or Ms Hend- erson must leave the practice. Ms Henderson finally left her job last February following a row with the practice manager, Fay Allingham. The tribunal decided that Ms Henderson had been unfairly dismissed. She has agreed a pri- vate settlement with Riverside Dental Practice. DT ‘unfairly dismissed’ after affair Oral health set to improve as more smokers quit More smokers are stubbing out and kicking the habit £2250 2010 Scottish NHS boards make ‘good progress’ May 3-9, 20102 News united Kingdom Edition