DTUK13

PUBLISHED IN LONDON T he minister in charge of NHS dentistry, Ann Keen, has lost her seat in the General Election. Dubbed Mrs Expenses for her role in the MP expenses scandal, Mrs Keen lost her seat of Brentford and Isleworth to the Conservatives. She and her husband Alan Keen, were investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards earlier this year, after they combined second homes allowances to buy an apartm- ent in a development at Waterloo in London. The rest of the Labour hea- lth team also lost their seats, with the exception of Secretary of State Andy Burnham. The Conservative health team all managed to win their seats, which means Mike Penning, the shadow minister currently in charge of dentistry, could become the new dentistry minister. The Lib Dem health spokes- man, Norman Lamb, also won his seat of Norfolk North with 27,554 votes. Sir Paul Beresford, a practis- ing dentist who runs a private surgery in London, managed to keep his seat as Conservative MP for Mole Valley in Surrey and even increased his share of the vote by 2.8 per cent. He picked up 31,263 votes out of the 54,324 total, a 57.5 per cent share and more than double the number gained by his nearest rival, Liberal Democrat Alice Humphreys. Sir Paul said he was ‘pleased and relieved’ at the result. He added: “It shows the support that I have because of the time I have spent working in Mole Valley.” Labour’s Anas Sarwar com- fortably beat the SNP’s (Scot- tish Nationalist Party) candidate by almost 10,000 votes, in Gla- sgow Central. Mr Sarwar polled 15,908 votes, while Osama Saeed, the SNP candidate, polled 5,357. The 27-year-old worked for more than four years as an NHS general practitioner in Paisley before stepping down a few months ago to concentrate on campaigning. The General Election with its uncertain outcome has left the country in turmoil with Conserv- ative winning 306 seats, Labour 258 and Liberal Democrats 57. The Conservatives needed 326 seats to win outright and now the country faces the prospect of a hung parliament. The Dental Practitioners As- sociation has branded the out- come of the election as an ‘un- satisfactory mess’. Derek Watson, its chief executive claimed that dentistry has been plunged into uncertainty and called it a ‘very unsatisfactory mess’. The British Dental Associa- tion refused to comment on the result as it is apolitical. The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) claimed that the race to become prime minis- ter was very dependent on a good smile. A national survey from the BDHF found that almost 70 per cent of us think that people who smile have a greater chance of be- ing successful. Another poll carried out by the Foundation before the election found that Conserva- tive leader David Cameron was the leader with the best smile, with 38 per cent of people prefer- ring his smile to that of his elec- tion rivals. Labour’s Gordon Brown came in second with 33 per cent while Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg came in third with 29 per cent. Theresultsofthesurveyseemto beborneoutbytheelectionresults. As Dental Tribune went to press, discussions were still be- ing held between the Tories and the Lib Dems over a power-shar- ing deal. The Lib Dem team has also been meeting with senior Labour officials to see what a Lib Dem/Labour pact would mean for the country. DT May 17-23, 2010 VOL. 4 NO. 13 National Smile Month National Smile Month was launched in the House of Par- liament on 13 May. Organised by the British Dental Health Foundation, this year’s Na- tional Smile Month tagline of Teeth4Life aims to highlight the importance of looking af- ter your teeth and maintain- ing them for life. The official launch was hosted by Parlia- mentary sponsor Sir Paul Be- resford MP. The campaign it- self runs between May 16 and June 16 and encourages peo- ple of all ages to get involved and talk about their teeth, in the hope of being able to im- prove general standards of dental health. Chief executive Dr Nigel Carter said: “Getting people to talk about their teeth and dental habits is vital in our goal of improving the state of oral health in this country. We have had a tremendous response to the campaign, par- ticularly in the last couple of years, but we must work hard- er to ensure this year’s Nation- al Smile Month can build on that success.” Care Quality Commission From April 2011, all dental practices in England will have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This represents a significant change for private practices as it will be the first time that they will be formally regulated. The CQC has stated that the aim of the new registration system is to make sure that people can expect services to meet essen- tial standards of quality and safety that respect their dignity and protect their rights. Professor Nairn Wilson Professor Nairn Wilson has been appointed leader of the Dental Clinical Academic Group. Professor Wilson is currently the dean and head of the King’s College London Dental Institute at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s Col- lege Hospitals, and deputy vice principal (Health) at King’s College London. King’s Health Partners’ executive director, Professor Robert Lechler, said: “I am delighted that we have made further appointments to the positions of clinical aca- demic group leader.” Research prize awarded Dr Maria Retzepi, lecturer in Periodontology of UCL East- man Dental Institute was awarded the André Schroeder Research Prize at the World Symposium of the Internation- al Team for Implantology (ITI) in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr Retzepi was commended for her work on ‘The Effect of Ex- perimental Diabetes on Guided Bone Regeneration’. www.dental-tribune.co.uk Keep them coming back Seema Sharma gives some tips to keep patients coming back for more Nobel Active Dr Tidu Mankoo presents an interdisciplinary case study using Nobel Active implants Algorithm Kenneth Serota looks at the Endodontic Implant Algorithm News in Brief Implant Tribune Implant TribuneFeatureNews Class of ‘59 Do you recognise this photo? If so turn to page 6 now! page 6 page 9 pages 12-15 page 18-22 Dentistry minister loses seat in General Election Ministerial Health team decimated by lost seats, lack of clear outcome leaves both dentistry and country in limbo Any takers? Cameron, Brown & Clegg in leadership battle