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