Cochrane Oral Health has carried out a systematic review to identify the best time interval to have between dental check‐ups. They concluded that in adults, there was little to no difference between six‐monthly and risk‐based check‐ups in tooth decay, gum disease and quality of life after four years; and probably little to no difference in how many people had moderate‐to‐extensive tooth decay.

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Read more: Cochrane concludes less gain from 6-month dental check-ups

The second edition of Guidance Notes for Dental Practitioners on the Safe use of X-ray Equipment sets standards of good practice for the safe use of X-ray equipment in dental practice, and is endorsed by the College of General Dentistry. It is freely available on the FGDP website, where hard copies are also available to purchase. FGDP members based in the UK will shortly be receiving a complimentary hard copy.

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Read more: FGDP(UK) and PHE publish revised guidance on radiation protection

Food companies have cut sugar by only 3% despite the Government’s voluntary target of a 20% reduction in many products by the end of the year, The Times has reported. Between 2015 and last year there was little or no reduction in many food and drink categories, including chocolate and sweets, Public Health England (PHE) says in a report. Sugar levels in puddings, meanwhile, rose by 2%.

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Read more: Food companies are failing to reduce sugar content says PHE

The Commons Health and Social Care Committee is calling for urgent action to assess and tackle a backlog of appointments and an unknown patient demand for all health services, including dentistry. They said a compelling case had been made for the nationwide routine testing of all NHS staff and they are yet to understand why it cannot be introduced.

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Read more: Jeremy Hunt’s Health Committee calls for urgent action to deal with backlog of NHS appointments

The Queen’s Birthday Honours list, delayed from June, has been published and includes those whose work during the Covid-19 response is recognised. These include Derek Maguire from Northern Ireland who becomes an OBE. Appointed MBE are GDP and Professor Simon Wright as well as Professor and Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, Helen Rodd.

GDPUK sends our congratulations and best wishes to all those honoured.

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Read more: Three dentists included in delayed Birthday Honours list