Dr Sarah Wollaston MP has been re-elected as chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee. She received 532 votes on the first ballot against David Tredinnick MP who received 64. She has been chair of the committee since 2013, when she succeeded form Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell.
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GDPUK is sad to announce the sudden passing of Brian Lux, well known across all fields of dentistry, his work with the GDPA, and latterly for his column in Dental Practice.
Brian passed away suddenly on Friday June 19th.
Cochrane has carried out a review to assess the effects of water fluoridation (artificial or natural) for the prevention of tooth decay. The authors conclude that ‘there is very little contemporary evidence, meeting the review's inclusion criteria, that has evaluated the effectiveness of water fluoridation for the prevention of caries.’
See review at: http://tinyurl.com/q6dewu5
Read more: Cochrane publishes lukewarm report on fluoridation
The Sunday Mirror has reported that some beauty salons are ‘using toxic chemicals with 200 times legal level of bleach’ to whiten teeth. These levels of hydrogen peroxide were discovered after trading standards officers ‘swooped on salons promising punters a perfect Hollywood smile’. The revelation comes after the paper told how unqualified practitioners were cashing in on the £1billion industry, ‘putting customers’ health at risk.’
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The Queens Speech at the State Opening of Parliament contained no specific mention of dentistry and, to quote the BDA, ‘was devoid of references to reform of healthcare regulation’. There will be legislation to restrict the right to strike for workers in services, such as healthcare. For the NHS the Government’s aim is a ‘shift to seven day a week opening with improved access and better links between services’.
The General Dental Council (GDC), has secured its first prosecution of an illegal tooth whitening training provider. Martyn Collier, sole director of 'Smile Like the Stars Training Limited', was found guilty at Cwmbran Magistrates' Court of two offences of tooth whitening. He was sentenced to a three year conditional discharge and ordered to pay compensation of £1,495 to his victims, a £15 victim surcharge and costs to the GDC of £3,500.
Addressing 300 dentists at the conference, the chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC), Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, said there is a huge mismatch between people’s demand for NHS treatment and dentists’ ability to deliver this care, when funding is limited to treating just over half of the population in England.
Read more: GDPC Chair speaks of concerns over funding and contract reform
In recent research Which? found that three in ten (31%) practices turned down their researchers because they didn’t have availability. Of those that did offer them an appointment, 29% couldn’t see us within two weeks, with one surgery saying we could book but we’d be facing a wait of eight to nine months. Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “We want the Competition and Markets Authority to step in and ensure that dentists put the existing rules into practice so that people can easily find out where they can get NHS dentistry.”
Read more: Which? finds ‘NHS dentists’ not offering NHS appointments
John Milne and Jenny Godson have been appointed MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. John Milne retired earlier this year and chairman of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC). Jenny Godson is Consultant in Dental Public Health for the North of England.