According to research publiched by the British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) over 2 million people in the UK say they have taken time of work due to poor oral health. According to BDHF chief executive Dr Nigel Carter OBE, the findings do not come as a great surprise. "Government statistics show that a quarter of all adults have not visited a dentist in the past two years and a similar number only brush their teeth once a day,” he says.

Dentists across England must resist the bullying tactics of Primary Care Trust dental commissioning staff, General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC) Chair Dr John Milne has urged. Speaking at the LDC Conference he told delegates he was appalled at suggestions that some PCTs were challenging perfectly acceptable treatment patterns in an attempt to claw back money, using a veiled threat that practitioners might be referred to the GDC as a stick with which to beat them.

Research by Bupa has revealed that more than half of Brits believe that the quality of a person’s teeth has a major impact on a person’s career or romantic life. Three in five people (63 per cent) believe having bad teeth can prevent someone from finding a partner while over half (52%) believe having nice teeth can help someone get a better job.

Derek Watson has been reinstated in his role of Chief Executive of the DPA following the aborted takeover of the organisation by CODE Ltd. 

The DPA office is open and membership services continue as before, following a four month hiatus.

Results of inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) show that  88 per cent of practices were meeting all the government standards. The 12 per cent not meeting at least one standard were required to produce an action plan telling the CQC how they were going to improve. They did not find any serious concerns which would have led them to take more urgent action.