www.mddus.com REVISED TRAINING


STANDARDS FOR IMPLANTS NEW revised training standards for implant dentistry have been published by The Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK). This new edition of the standards document aims to provide a summary of the training that a reasonable dental practitioner carrying out safe implant dentistry in the UK should undertake before embarking upon patient care in this discipline. FGDP(UK) Vice Dean, Abhi Pal, who led the working group that


updated the standards, said: “Raising the standard of implant training courses will ensure that practitioners are skilled, knowledgeable and confident in their work, and patients are provided with safe and reliable treatments in this high profile and high cost dental discipline.” Training Standards For Implant Dentistry is available to download at


www.fgdp.org.uk as a part of the Open Standards Initiative. • The FGDP has also produced a toolkit for dentists to help reduce antibiotic prescribing. Since 2015, dentists and other healthcare providers have had a statutory duty to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance by ensuring appropriate use of antibiotics. Download the toolkit free on the FGDP website at tinyurl.com/zdtwrd3


FREE CAREER ADVICE


FOR NEW DENTISTS AT MDDUS we recognise that starting out as a dentist can be a daunting prospect. Now dental members practising in Scotland can take advantage of a great new service designed especially for those beginning their careers.


MDDUS Early Practitioner Adviser, Laura McCormick, is now on hand to


offer advice on topics such as what to expect from practice life, how to choose the right job or understanding associate agreements. Laura is a practising dentist who has worked as a VT trainer and also


as a coach and mentor for the Training Revision and Mentoring Support (TRaMS) programme. She has the experience and expertise to provide recent graduates with educational support and insight into working life. This great new service is provided at no additional charge for MDDUS dental members who are practising in Scotland and have graduated within the past five years. Contact Laura at lmccormick@mddus.com. Read her advice article on page 6.


NEW FACULTY OF DENTAL


TRAINERS LAUNCHED A NEW Faculty of Dental Trainers has been established by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. It is the first of its kind in the UK and will focus on promoting,


recognising and rewarding teaching, training and education in dentistry. It is intended to provide a framework to promote and guide dental trainers throughout their educational careers. The faculty will be open to all qualified members of the dental team


working in the UK and internationally: dentists, dental nurses, dental hygienists, dental therapists, technicians and orthodontic therapists who can demonstrate their involvement in appropriate dental training. It will provide support and guidance for career development in dental training, as well as establishing a platform for recognised dental trainers. The new faculty will offer three levels of membership: Associate, Member (MFDTEd) and Fellow (FFDTEd).


SCOTLAND STILL PLAYING “CATCH-UP” ON CHILDREN’S


WARNING OVER COUNTERFEIT


DENTAL DEVICES DENTISTS are being warned over the risks of buying non-compliant and counterfeit dental devices online. More than 1,900 such devices have been seized in the last year by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), including dental hand pieces, dental surgery equipment and drill bits. The MHRA has highlighted the “rapid growth” in websites offering cheaper equipment but warned some of those being sold have not been properly tested and are not authorised for use in the UK dental sector. The agency has teamed up with the British Dental Industry Association


(BDIA) to warn of the risks of buying substandard devices and to raise awareness of the dangers they present to both patients and clinicians. Cheaper devices sold online can break and shatter while in the mouth with the potential to cause “horrific” damage to teeth and gums. Medical device adverse incidents can be reported via the Yellow Card


scheme.


DENTAL HEALTH DENTAL health among children in Scotland has improved by 24 per cent since 2000 but the high levels of social inequality in dental care are still unacceptable, says the British Dental Association. New figures from the National Dental Inspection Programme in


Scotland show that more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of five-year-olds now have no obvious signs of tooth decay. But the same survey also reveals a huge gap in dental health in P1 children from more affluent areas compared to the lowest income households – with 55 per cent from the most deprived areas free from tooth decay compared with 82 per cent from the least deprived. Scotland also still lags behind


countries of similar development, such as England and Norway. Comparable figures show that two-thirds (75 per cent) of five-year olds in England are decay-free, with broadly similar figures for Norway (73-86 per cent).


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