This year’s LDC Conference takes place on June 8/9 in Birmingham and is chaired by Alisdair McKendrick. Central to all LDC conferencs are the motions which have been condensed to 25 from the 70 orginally submitted. This should allow fuller debate and the three below should spark interest, with the BDA/GDPC being forced to defend itself.
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Speaking at the BDA conference, Claire Stevens, a Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry and Vice-President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, urged her audience to support BSPD’s campaign to make Dental Check by One DCBy1 the norm for all children in the UK. Only 19% of children under 2 saw a dentist in the last year, she said.
Read more: Claire Stevens highlights continuing scandal of child tooth extractions
From June, all BDA members will have access to free mediation services to help resolve associateship disputes, potentially saving them the time and cost of a court case. The service will be available to BDA members at every level from Essential through to Expert, subject to terms and conditions. Both of the parties taking part must be members and must be willing to participate in the mediation.
Read more: BDA launches free mediation service for associateship disputes
Patients will have to wait weeks for GP appointments even if a Conservative government fulfils a promise of thousands more doctors, an analysis in Pulse suggests. Waiting times will “rocket” without drastic measures to cut the numbers visiting a doctor, three-week waits will become the norm unless doctors put in more hours of overtime every week, the findings suggest.
Read more: GPs warn three-week waiting list will become norm
Chewing just one additional piece of sugarfree gum each day could save £3.3 billion worldwide on dental expenditures from treating tooth decay, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Dentistry. Other research has shown the NHS could save up to £8.2 million per annum if all twelve year olds in the UK were to increase their chewing of sugarfree gum.
New data has been released in the Brush-Baby Mums & Gums Survey, reporting mothers’ habits and perceptions on baby oral care and teething. The survey reveals confusion amongst mothers including what age a child should first visit the dentist, with only 13% believing they should first take their baby to the dentist at 6 months.
Read more: New survey reveals mothers unaware of benefits of early oral care
The British Society of Dental Therapists (BADT) and the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT) are pursuing ‘exemptions’ to the Medicines Act, which would mean that a list of prescription only medicines would be specified in legislation for dental therapists and dental hygienists to administer or supply. They are running a joint fundraising campaign to raise money to achieve this.
Read more: Hygienists and therapists raising funds to allow prescribing
BDA chair Mick Armstrong said: "We've been so proud to make Manchester home to our national conference, and we just want to do our bit to help our hosts and friends in the aftermath of this horrific attack. Quite rightly Manchester has resolved to carry on. Our thoughts are with all the families touched by this atrocity."
Peter Dyer, consultant oral and maxillo-facial surgeon at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, has been installed at BDA President for 2017-18. His main clinical interests are trauma and the treatment of dento-facial anomalies. He previously chaired the BDA’s Hospitals Committee.