Paula Sherriff Labour MP for Dewsbury recently raised the lack of NHS dentists in the House of Commons, during Business Questions. She asked why the Government did not appear to care about the teeth of people in her constituency, where the incidence of child tooth decay is five times the national average.
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The General Dental Council (GDC) will be publishing, on January 26, initiatives to make the current system of regulation better for patients and fairer for dental professionals by shifting the balance of activity onto prevention as part of a series of wide-ranging proposals to improve dental regulation. The plans cover work that is already under way as well as new proposals.
Researchers at Florida State University have determined how long it took dinosaurs to hatch from their eggs by studying their teeth. Much like tree rings, teeth have growth lines called lines of von Ebner that can be used to estimate the age of an animal. The long incubation time of the eggs could have played a role in the extinction of dinosaurs after the K-Pg extinction event.
Only 37 percent of Dutch children between the ages of 2 and 4 years ever visit the dentist according to figures from heath insurer Zilveren Kruis. Other insurers confirmed the figures that show kids in Holland under the age of five hardly ever go to the dentist.
Dr Mervyn Druian has been announced as honorary international president of the Alpha Omega Dental Society for 2017. He becomes only the second European member to receive this accolade in the society’s 110-year history. He said. ‘I believe we, as dentists, belong to one of the luckiest professions,’
Scientists say that they have found a way to stimulate the stem cells in teeth using a drug containing a GSK-3 inhibitor so that dentine, which is found underneath tooth enamel, regrows. This research has been highlighted in the media as the ‘end of fillings’ and lead author Prof Paul Sharpe is confident that it could get ‘quickly into clincs’.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has responded to figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) revealing 160 children and teenagers are undergoing tooth extractions under general anaesthesia in hospitals in England every day. BDA chair Mick Armstrong said: “The millions spent on child tooth extractions in hospitals are emblematic of the government's disinterest in oral health.”
Read more: BDA: Government failure is driving child tooth extraction epidemic
HMRCs new Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme will present ‘a severe headache’ for the majority of dentists and be yet another cost that they will have to cover. That’s according to NASDAL. Alan Suggett, media officer of NASDAL said: “The aims of the scheme appear to be laudable in terms of simplifying and making the tax system more efficient. However, the dental sector will face specific challenges.”
Read more: Making Tax Digital will be ‘severe headache’ for dentists
The Chairs of three House of Commons Select Committees are urging the Prime Minister to reach a cross-party agreement on the future of health and social care funding in a published letter. The letter has been sent by Sarah Wollaston MP, Chair of the Health Committee, and the chairs of the Public Accounts Committee, and the Communities and Local Government Committee.
Read more: Prime Minister must find consensus on health and social care