The Teesside Gazette reports that a judge in a specialist court has approved plans for a mentally ill Syrian refugee, who is thought to have seen torturers pull out his brother’s teeth, undergo major dental work.

The man, who is in his 30s, needed to have at least 20 of his 31 teeth taken out, dentists said, with the remaining 11 potentially having to be removed.

He is under the care of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust so bosses sought the help of Mr Justice Hayden to make decisions about his treatment, as he is not in a mental state to make decisions.

Mr Justice Hayden told The Teesside Gazette that there were concerns that the man thought dentists might be torturing him. The judge also praised lawyers involved for their hard work in attempting to help the man.

For the full story, read the full article from the Teesside Gazette: http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/tees-health-chiefs-seek-advice-14159883

The Horizon magazine has revealed that scientists have been able to identify fatal diseases from the past 5, 000 years using fossil traces found in human teeth found in mass graves and archaeological excavations around the world.

Professor Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany, used molecular fossil records to build a genetic profile of Yersinia pestis – the organism behind the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the 14^th century.

Horizon magazine has noted that her team isolated the remnants of the bacteria from the skeletal remains and were then able to trace the bugs’ evolutionary past. Yersinia pestis could be found as far back as the last stone age, then the Justinian Plague (targeting the Roman empire in the sixth century) and lastly the Black Death.

For full insight into the story, follow this link: https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/skeleton-teeth-and-historical-photography-are-retelling-story-plague_en.html

According to BBC News, a Cardiff refugee has participated in a loan system allowing him to qualify as a dentist in the UK. Mohammed Al-Homsi was a qualified dentist in Syria but a £10,000 loan has allowed him to retrain in the UK.

Mr Al-Homsi has become the first in refugee in Wales to benefit from the scheme. 

The BBC notes that he received the loan from RefuAid which supports skilled refugees back into work and has so far helped 12 others.

Other people to have benefitted from the scheme include an accountant from Syria, a lawyer from Pakistan and an auditor from Zambia.

When Mr Al-Homsi was granted refugee status in 2015, his degree was not accepted and he was not in a financial position to retake his exams.

He said to the BBC: “ Money-wise there was no way for me. My wife saw in my eyes how depressed I was. I was anxious to do the job that I spent nearly ten years of my life training to do but I couldn’t.”

He has now received the interest-free money to pay for his training, which he is now revising for.

For the full story, read this article from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-42662045

Student dentist CHARLOTTE GENTRY reflects on her course…

Ibegan my paediatric speciality teaching in September. I was incredibly apprehensive about starting. The idea of drilling such tiny teeth in such tiny mouths and giving anaesthetic to (stereotypically) very anxious children gave me nightmares! However, my experience so far has been a pleasant one and it’s my favourite part of the course.
Paediatrics is taught as a speciality – we get a set period of time on the dedicated clinic and we see one or two children every two weeks. I can’t help but think, is this really enough? I’ve never understood why we get such a relatively small amount of time treating children, when a large proportion of our patients will be children once we go out into general practice. Paediatrics is a speciality in its own right – of that I have no doubt. When I began the teaching, I realised how different our approach to almost everything is wihen it comes to treating children – from their medical histories to looking out for safe-guarding issues. I feel more time should be given to dental students in paediatric teaching in order for us to be able to do our utmost best when we get into the big wide world.
Many of the patients we see have been referred to us by their GDP for us to assess and treat them. This allows students like me a great chance to experience hands-on rarer and more complex cases. I can’t help but think, though, that if we are able, as undergraduates, to treat these patients surely qualified GDPs should be doing more paediatric work, too? Or are they not treating paediatric patients because of a lack of confidence due to the limited training they received at dental school?
From my experience in practice before starting at dental school, there was one paediatric treatment possibility I had never seen or even heard of – a Hall crown. We’ve been taught a great deal about these and their efficacy, and from what I’ve learnt they are an excellent treatment option that are clearly not utilised enough. No anaesthetic is required, the crown itself needs minimal adjustment and it just snaps into place. It prevents progression of and arrests the caries underneath whilst preventing a new lesion from being able to form on that tooth. They are technically easier and quicker to do than a direct restoration on a child’s tooth, which require anaesthetic and far more compliance from the child. I just have no idea why they aren’t used more frequently. Perhaps a lack of training or the cost is the answer, but, in the long term, surely utilising hall crowns would reduce costs further down the line?
I appreciate that resources – and lack of them – is a huge hurdle in practice that we do not have to such an extent at dental school. However, if Hall crowns were used more frequently, if diet sheets were used and education in oral health was more frequently imposed, in the long term it would save money and time for many dentists. Children wouldn’t need to be referred for general anaesthetic – a huge cost and time consuming treatment in itself.
There is an awful lot to fit into a five-year course at dental school and time is already a constraint. Nevertheless, I feel that paediatric teaching should be a core part of our learning, up there with our clinical practice teaching. After all, we will see kids on a daily basis and by improving the dental health of children, we can improve the future dental health of the country.

Dentists have accused the government of having a “short-sighted” approach to tooth decay in England after hospital operations to remove children’s teeth increased to nearly 43,000.

According to the BBC, there were 42,911 operations in 2016-17 – up from 40,800 the previous year and 36,833 in 2012-13, NHS figures show.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said England had a “second-class” dental service compared to Wales and Scotland.

The government said it was “determined” to reduce the number of extractions.

Doctors said many of the tooth extractions would be caused by the food and drink children consume and were therefore “completely preventable”.

Dental surgeon Claire Stevens, who works in a hospital in north-west England, said most of her patients were aged five to nine, but it was not uncommon to remove all 20 baby teeth from a two-year-old because of decay.

She said she has also extracted a 14-year-old’s permanent teeth due to fizzy drinks. They then needed false teeth.
‘Startling’ figures

An analysis of NHS figures by the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, found the equivalent of 170 hospital tooth extractions a day were being carried out on under-18s.

These are done in a hospital under general anaesthetic, rather than at a dental practice.

The operations would have cost the NHS about £36m last year and £165m since 2012, the LGA found.

Mick Armstrong, chairman of the BDA, said: “These statistics are a badge of dishonour for health ministers, who have failed to confront a wholly preventable disease.

“Tooth decay is the number one reason for child hospital admissions, but communities across England have been left hamstrung without resources or leadership.”

The BDA said England was receiving a “second-class service” because, unlike Wales and Scotland, it has no dedicated national child oral health programme.

It said the government’s centrepiece policy Starting Well – aimed at improving oral health outcomes for “high-risk” children – had received no new funding and was operating in parts of just 13 local authorities in England.

Dr Sandra White, director of dental public health at Public Health England, said parents could reduce tooth decay through cutting back on their children’s sugary food and drink and encouraging them to brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day, as well as regular trips to the dentist.

A debate on children’s dental examinations and treatment is due to take place in the House of Lords on 18 January.

The British Dental Association has announced Phil Grigor as its new Scotland Director.

Phil joins the BDA from the University of the West of Scotland, where he served as Head of Strategic Planning. He will take up his role on 12 February 2018.

A former academic, Phil has worked extensively in policy for the Scottish Health Department, NHS in Scotland and at Audit Scotland, where he served for 10 years managing a range of projects on national and local level including transport, health inequalities and education.

Derek Harper, a practice owner in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and member of the BDA’s Principal Executive Committee said:

“Dentistry in Scotland is under huge pressure. Phil has worked across the public sector, including at the heart of Scottish government, and comes equipped with the insight and experience to help us win the argument for a sustainable service. We were hugely impressed with his strategic approach and are delighted to have him join the team.”

Phil Grigor added:

“I am proud to be joining the BDA as its new Scotland Director. We face funding shortfalls, low morale and oral health inequalities. However, with the Scottish Government’s oral health improvement plan due to be published, this is also a time where we can really look to shape future oral health policy. I am determined to give our members the strongest possible voice at Holyrood, and to help to ensure all Scots can enjoy effective oral health.”

Volunteer-run charity, Dentaid begins performing free procedures on the British public who are unable to see a dentist.

They have set up temporary surgeries in Britain in order to relieve people of their dental pain, seeking to help those that are vulnerable, homeless or unable to book an appointment with a dentist.

Chief executive Andrew Evans said: “We recognised there was a need within the UK with people struggling to access NHS care.

“I have heard dentists saying it is worse than at one our projects in Malawi. The state of oral health in the UK has been a big surprise.”

Recent figures reveal that 160 youths are having teeth taken out under general anaesthetic in England every day. Dentaid began treatment after learning that those visiting food banks were unable to eat due to their dental health. The worst affected area is said to be West Yorkshire, with NHS Choices stating that 96 per cent of practices are unable to accept new patients.

The British Dental Association has stated that Government funding is only enough to pay for half the population.

Gum disease and tooth loss are just a few oral health issues that have been linked to frailty in older men, according to a new study.

With weight loss, exhaustion and low physical activity being a few of the significant symptoms observed over a three-year period, Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation says that these problems can effect the wellbeing of older men to such an extent that it can “impact a person’s quality of life”.

The study further revealed that twenty per cent of over 1,000 participants had no teeth, with 11 per cent having experienced gum disease.

Dr Carter adds: “we often see first-hand the difficulties that poor oral health in elderly can have, including making it harder to eat, swallow, speak, get adequate nutrition and even smile”.

Participants – aged between 71 and 92 – took part in examinations of their height, weight, walking speed and strength of grip, as well as their oral health. These consequential health problems are proven to be widespread, with the men studied living in 24 towns across the UK.

While sensory impairments like eyesight, physical function, disease and hearing are regarded as highly important issues, Dr Carter believes the detection of poor oral health could be used to identify fragility but says it is “often ignored when assessing the care of older people”.

Dr Carter concludes: “A simple daily routine of brushing our teeth last thing at night and at one other time during the day with a fluoride toothpaste could vastly improve the health our mouth moving into later years.”

After visiting McDonald’s Waterlooville branch in Hampshire, Danielle Bailey tells Portsmouth’s daily newspaper, The News she was left “disgusted” after finding what looked like a human tooth inside a chip.

Danielle Bailey said “I had ordered a quarter pounder meal with chips and a drink and while eating I noticed something glistening in the chip I had picked up.”

After speaking to the manager of the McDonalds branch, she was informed it would be sent for testing. She later rung the head office to confirm further action would be taken.

Danielle said: “I received £15 worth of vouchers but I had been given no evidence that there was an investigation”.

“This could be a health and safety risk in their factory and this could be in someone else’s food as well,” adds Danielle.

A McDonalds spokesperson said: “We were sorry to hear about this customer experience.

“Food safety is of the utmost importance to us and we place great emphasis on quality control and follow rigorous standards to avoid any imperfections.”

‘Having been examined and due to production methods of our fries, we do not believe this to have been a tooth.’

For the full story, please visit The News