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IMMEDIATE CASH FOR UNWANTED GOLD DENTAL CROWNS & BRIDGEWORK - ANY CONDITION! DENTISTSSORTOUTYOURTEETH! 8 Corporation St, Birmingham | 14 Birdcage Walk, Dudley | 71 Hertford St, Coventry City Centre Sheldon Shopping Centre | 526 Bearwood Rd, Bearwood | 116 High St, Bromsgrove | 3 Church St, Nuneaton 22 - 24 Friar Lane, Nottingham | 6 Mercers Row, Northampton | 2 Station Street, Burton on Trent A magistrate’s court has fined a man £3,000 for practising dentistry illegally. Robin Baldwin was found guilty at King’s Lynn Magis- trates Court of practising den- tistry illegally. He was found guilty of be- ing prepared to practice den- tistry at Greyfriars Surgery, 5 Tower Place, King’s Lynn, Norfolk. He was also found guilty of unlawfully using the title of den- tal surgeon on a business card. Mr Baldwin was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,195.40 to- wards the General Dental Coun- cil (GDC’s) costs. The GDC has now success- fully prosecuted six cases of illegal practice in the last three months. This includes Neville Forman of Beechwood Barn, North Moor Lane, Lincoln, who pleaded guilty to the offence of holding himself out as being prepared to practise dentistry – in that he was prepared to give treatment in connection with the fitting, in- serting and fixing of dentures. Mr Forman was conditionally discharged for six months and ordered to pay £700 in costs. In a separate case, Mr An- thony Woodland, of West Quay, Bridgwater, Somerset, pleaded guilty at Bridgwater Magistrates Court on 28 May to the offence of holding himself out as being pre- pared to practise dentistry. In addition he also pleaded guilty to unlawfully using a spec- ified title, namely that of ‘dental technician’. Mr Woodland was fined £100 for each offence. DT B BC presenter Ben Fo- gle has been out in Africa following the work of the orthodontic char- ity, Facing Africa. The television programme Make Me a New Face: Hope for Africa’s Hidden Children was shown on BBC Two. In 2008, Ben Fogle caught a flesh-eating disease called Leish- maniasis which, if untreated, would have destroyed his face. In the TV programme, Ben investigates a sickness that’s far worse but virtually unheard of - Noma, which eats away the faces of thousands of Africa’s poorest children. Up to 90 per cent of Noma victims die, while survivors are left terribly disfigured. Every year, British charity Facing Africa sends top cosmetic surgeons to Africa to treat those who are affected. Consultant orthodontist, Al- lan Thom, who is a past presi- dent of the British Orthodontic Soci- ety, helped set up the organisation. The TV crew filmed three children whose lives have been blighted by this disease - teenager Rashid, who is forced to hide his face in pub- lic; Asnake, aged 11, whose mis- shapen mouth makes him drib- ble constantly; and 10-year-old Mestikma, abandoned by her family because of her deformity. These children join other Noma victims in Addis Ababa for the radical transfor- mative surgery. Mr Thom was part of the advance team carrying out full medical, dental and social as- sessments, putting the patients on a high protein feeding regime and a deworming programme as well as clerking, photographing and assessing the degree of loss of jaw movement. A spokeswoman for the char- ity said: “It was considered es- sential to establish a healthy dental environment for surgery and extractions were performed where as necessary as well as plaque removal and oral hygiene. “Each patient was given their own hygiene pack and tooth brushing was supervised daily. Some had never seen a tooth- brush and were used to using, on occasions, a soft twig.” Two weeks later the surgical team arrived and they took over the operating theatres of one of the main hospitals in Addis Abba. The surgical team were interna- tional with surgeons, anaesthet- ists and nurses from the UK, France, Holland and Norway. The team carried out more than 50 facial reconstructions. Anklosed jaws were released, facial defects repaired, tumours re- moved and cleft palates repaired. For more information on the work of Facing Africa, visit www. facingafrica.org. DT Orthodontic charity filmed by BBC in Africa T reating serious gum disease in people with diabetes mellitus can help to reduce high blood sugar levels, according to a new study. The study carried out by an inter-university research team including the UCL East- man Dental Institute and Penin- sula Dental School, looked at previous research into the link between diabetes and serious gum disease. The results showed that there is a small but potential- ly highly important benefit to treating periodontal disease in diabetic patients. However, further research needs to be conducted in order to fully establish the link between the two conditions. Currently, it is thought that dental inflammation, caused by bacteria infecting the mouth, re- sults in chemical changes that reduce the overall effectiveness of insulin, thus leading to raised blood sugar levels. Dental treatment to reduce oral inflammation may therefore help to lower blood sugar levels. This means a decrease in the overall risk of contracting seri- ous health complications associ- ated with the condition, including heart disease and eye problems. Prof Ian Needleman from the UCL Eastman Dental In- stitute called the research ‘particularly timely’ because ‘periodontal disease now affects at least 40 per cent of the UK population, and for people with diabetes the disease levels will be significantly higher’. He added: “Furthermore, levels of diabetes in the UK are rising rapidly and with higher prevalence amongst disadv- antaged groups, periodontal health is an important priority both for prevention and treat- ment. Periodontal disease is also very treatable. “Whilst the most important aspect of insulin control in dia- betes management is the use of drugs and diet, maintaining good dental health is something patients and healthcare profes- sionals should also recognise, particularly because it is so easy to treat.” The findings, which have been published as part of the in- ternational ‘Cochrane Collabora- tion’, highlight the need for doc- tors and dentists to work together in the treatment of diabetes. DT Treating gum disease can help diabetics £3k for illegal practice June 14-20, 20104 News United Kingdom Edition

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