A four day weekend lies ahead to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – or does it? Lawyers are advising dental team members not to be too jubilant until they are sure that they really are entitled to the additional holiday. The Spring bank holiday has been moved to Monday June 4 and there is an additional bank holiday on Tuesday June 5, to mark the Jubilee. But June 5 could be just another day in the practice.

A new statement by the American Heart Association (AHA) says that periodontal disease has not been proven to cause atherosclerotic heart disease or stroke, and treating periodontitis has not been proven to prevent heart disease or stroke, This has been recently published in Circulation.

The Welsh Government has told Local Health Boards (LHBs) that funding allocated for dentistry must not be diverted to fund any other type of healthcare. Health Minister Lesley Griffiths has written to LHB Chairs to remind them that budgets allocated for spending on general dental services should be used as intended, and that any underspends on these budgets should not be diverted to shore-up other services.

Frank Holloway, a retired army dentist based in Surrey, was installed as President of the British Dental Association (BDA). Dr Holloway, the first armed forces dentist to receive this honour since 2003, was presented with his chain of office and made his inaugural speech at the opening of the BDA Conference and Exhibition in Manchester.

Professor Jonathan Shepherd’s paper “Alcohol misuse: screening and treatment in primary dental care" advises dentists to screen their patients for alcohol abuse . He said: “The dental team has a responsibility to promote overall health and not just dental health. Dentists and the Government must work together to develop and deliver screening and treatment by intervening early.”