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Welcome News


TOO FEW TODDLER VISITS AROUND 80 per cent of one to two year olds in England did not visit an NHS dentist in the last year despite the fact that dental care for children is free, according new figures collated by the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons. The figures also show that 60 per cent of children aged one to four


did not have a dental check-up in the same period up to 31 March 2017. The Faculty believes that there is “widespread misunderstanding”


Welcome to your


MORE recently qualified members will be familiar with this journal which, for the last seven years, has been specifically designed to inform and support trainees. My illustrious predecessor, Sameera Teli, edited a wide range of Soundbite articles, many with particular relevance to readers looking up at the steepest part of the learning curve. Moving forward, we have decided to expand the scope of Soundbite. We have not lost our focus on practitioners in the embryonic stages of their careers. However, there are now articles which, hopefully, will have resonance for all dental members, irrespective of their level of experience. Having recently spent some time gazing “upstream”, the GDC has published its vision of the future and on page 4 Joanne Curran examines the implications of Shifting the balance . At some stage most dentists will consider practice ownership,


and this demands an entirely new skill-set. On page 6 Alun Rees expounds the advantages of having a comprehensive and flexible practice systems manual. On page 7 Alan Frame looks at complaints aired online using public forums, such as Facebook. Abhi Pal examines some


potential problems associated with the provision of implant dentistry on page 8, and on page 10, I look at pitfalls in the labyrinthine regulations relating to NHS claims. Finally, Kristin Ballantyne talks


to Nigel and Vicky Milne, practice owners in Dunoon, who set up a charity that brings dental supplies and treatments to needy patients in Malawi (page 12). Their selflessness and enterprise is a lesson to us all. Something for everyone, I hope you will agree.


• Doug Hamilton Editor


COVER PHOTOGRAPH: NIGEL MILNE FGDP (UK) GOING


INDEPENDENT THE Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) has announced that it is now undertaking the first steps towards becoming an independent organisation. The FGDP(UK) was established as a faculty of the Royal College of


EDITOR: Doug Hamilton BDS LLM MJDF RCS (Eng)


ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Joanne Curran Jim Killgore


DESIGN: Connect Communications www.connectmedia.cc


CORRESPONDENCE: SoundBite Editor MDDUS Mackintosh House 120 Blythswood Street Glasgow G2 4EA


t: e: 0333 043 4444 jcurran@mddus.com w: www.mddus.com


Surgeons in 1992 and in the ensuing years has built a professional home for the general practice dentistry community in the UK. Early in 2017 the Board of FGDP(UK) announced that it had decided


that its aspirations are best served as an independent organisation, whilst remaining in close partnership with the RCS and its Faculty of Dental Surgery. A programme of work has now been developed to prepare itself for independence. FDGP(UK) has a membership of nearly 5,000 and delivers courses in


implantology, minor oral surgery and restorative care. It also publishes the highly respected Primary Dental Journal and produces clinical guidelines written by dentists, for dentists.


among parents and some health professionals about when a baby should first visit the dentist. Children should have regular dental check-ups starting from when their first teeth appear at around six months of age, according to accepted guidance. Over 9,200 tooth extractions were performed in 2015/16 on children


aged one to four in hospitals in England. Many of these cases can be attributed to tooth decay which is largely preventable through good oral hygiene. Professor Nigel Hunt, dean of the FDS, said: “In a nation which offers


free dental care for under-18s, there should be no excuse for these statistics. Yet we know from parents we speak to that there is widespread confusion, even in advice given to them by NHS staff, about when a child should first visit the dentist.”


SoundBite is published by The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Registered in Scotland No 5093 at Mackintosh House, 120 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 4EA. The MDDUS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MDDUS are discretionary as set out in the Articles of Association. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in SoundBite are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland.


GPst is published by The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Registered in Scotland No 5093 at Mackintosh House, 120 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 4EA. The MDDUS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MDDUS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.


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