Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

PUBLISHED IN LONDON T he minister responsible for dentistry took to the stage to urge dentists to embrace change in a keynote ad- dress to Foundation Dentists and trainers. Earl Howe (pictured), Parlia- mentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and, made the speech at the Career Opportunities for UK Dentists Conference, held in London earlier this month. Addressing a packed audito- rium, Earl Howe gave a rallying call for dentists to be involved in the political process surround- ing the latest wave of changes in dentistry: “You are the future of the dental profession and all of you need to understand and be engaged in the development of policy in the area for which you have been trained. “Iamawarethattherehasbeen lots of change in dentistry in the last few years, and I’m sure many of you must be wondering what sort of opportunities there are for you once you had graduated from your dental schools. Look- ing around the room I see a few more mature heads scattered about, and I’m sure that they will tell you that paradoxically one of the few constants in life is un- foreseen change. It is how you respond to those changes that it is crucial - some people see it as an opportunity, others see it as a threat – but it a constant feature in the world of medicine and dentistry as it is throughout the world of work.” Discussing the proposed reforms to the current dental contract Earl Howe said: “As dentists you will be dealing with dental conditions that are varied, changing in nature and chang- ing in prevalence. The way you provide services and patient management has to constantly evolve to align with changes in people’s health and improve- ments in methods of treatment and technology. “We know that the currency of any contract has significant impact on the nature of services delivered. Historically, dentists pay was based on an item of serv- ice methodology. At a time when we know that the prevalence of active dental caries is decreasing most reasonable people would agree that it would be perverse to continue to relate remuneration to activity. But it’s vital that not only do patients get the most ap- propriate treatment and dentists are appropriately rewarded; but also that taxpayers get value for money for their investment. “The coalition government is committed to introducing a new dental contract based on the three elements of registration, capita- tion and quality. We are keen to develop quality indicators for use in monitoring services and cru- cially for the first times outcomes for primary care dental services. We are very grateful for the co- operation we have been receiv- ing from the dental associations and clinicians from all fields in dentistry in developing high quality indicators. “It’s complex and challenging work but I’m sure that there will be a need for indicators to evolve with experience. It’s vital to the morale of the profession and the satisfaction of your careers that we get them right and we keep their roles under review.” Earl Howe added: “The world you are entering is now signifi- cantly changing – and changing for the better. As minister I am committed to both sustaining that change and making sure that the direction of that change is correct and positive.” DT Midi Pro NEW FOR 2011NEW FOR 2011 WWW.PROFI-DENTAL.CO.UK • extra-bright 45,000 lux for surgical procedures • three light intensity settings • natural, day-light temperature 6,250º K • three axis head movement • fan-less, noise-less • long-life LEDs (50,000 hours) Upgrade to LED operating light with motion sensor - for only £369 MIDI PRO - PROMOTIONAL UPGRADES double LED illumination; thin, light handpiece; powerful oscillation; endo / perio / normal mode; wide selection of tips for all applications; self-diagnostics OPTIC PIEZO SCALER NSK VARIOS 170 LED **upgrade from TKD Titanus-E scaler £320 ** RRP £1,125 LCD CONTROL PANEL NSK MULTI PAD for NSK NLX NANO: select speed, rotation, gear, light intensity, light on/off, factory & user programs for NSK VARIOS 170 LED: power level; endo / perio / normal mode £290* *when buying with NLX nano micromotor RRP £1,695* ELECTRIC MICROMOTOR extra bright LED 32,000 lux, ultra-compact construction, brushless, only 45mm long, weight only 64g, speed 1,000-40,000 rpm, powerful 3.4Ncm torque, complete set for integration £890 NSK NLX nano * Simple and reliable unit with generous specification. • pneumatic unit based on popular DCI parts (USA) • piezo scaler and fibre optic handpiece outlet included • services hidden in chair’s base • compact chair with small footprint • wide range of optional equipment • only 8% VAT £7,990 or £159 pcm+8% VAT mobile voicemail fax e-mail office@profi-dental.co.uk 07981075157 08450044388 08719442257 27 Woodcock Close Birmingham, B31 5EH Continental, international and cart delivery system contact us for a free, on-site quotation, surgery plan and advice February 14-20, 2011 VOL. 5 NO. 4 Dentist of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg’s father Dr Edward Zuckerberg, a den- tist, said in a recent radio interview that an early expo- sure to computers inspired his son’s interest in technol- ogy. Edward Zuckerberg said he computerised his offices in 1985 and his son Mark Zuckerberg, cofounder of Facebook, was born in 1984 and was raised in the house where his father’s dental of- fices are located. The den- tist majored in biology in college and said he has “al- ways been technologically oriented in the office” and “always had the latest high- tech toys,” including an early Atari 800. “It came with a disk for programming,” he said. “I thought Mark might be interested and I imparted that knowledge to him. From there it took off.” Zuckerberg said he uses Facebook to pro- mote his dental practice and spends about an hour a day on the site. He also still does Mark’s “routine dental care.” Civil war dentistry A full civil-war dental sur- geon’s kit is currently on display at the Rosenburg Li- brary Museum. Historians are of the opinion that the kit was owned by a Confederate soldier and contained more than 50 items, including den- tal elevators, picks and some rather grisly looking forceps, all contained in a handmade rosewood box. It was manu- factured in New York by John D. Chevalier, a dental supply house with a history stretch- ing back to 1833. It is unusual to have such a complete and well-preserved dental kit and historians have discovered a surprising amount of infor- mation about mid-19th cen- tury dental care and it has allowed an insight into the nation’s health of the 19th century. The dental surgeons kit in question was donated by Clark Hazlitt in 1949, Hazlitt had bought the kit from the estate of W.T. Armstrong. Armstrong (1864-1949) was an attorney and dean of the Galveston Bar was a board member of the library from 1905 to his death in 1949. IDH, ADP in merger deal Private equity company Car- lyle has bought Integrated Dental Holdings (IDH) for £450m from the buy-out divi- sion of Bank of America Mer- rill Lynch and is planning to merge it with Associated Dental Practices (ADP).The deal will create the biggest dental group in the UK, with control of around 450 pri- vate dental practices, treat- ing more than 3.5m patients. www.dental-tribune.co.uk “I am a glow worm’’ Sharon Holmes on knowing the MDD Form and function Michael Sonick details a case of aesthetic management Morphological changes Georgi Tomov discusses hard dental tissues News in Brief Implant Tribune ClinicalPractice ManagementNews Cheap treatment Dental Tribune reports on dental tourism page 4 page 8 pages 11-12 pages 25-27 The only constant is unforeseen changeMinister for dentistry looks to the future in keynote speech