Despite widespread criticism of the new dental foundation recruitment exercise, Chris Franklin Professor COPDEND Chair says he was very pleased with how well the process had gone. Of the 1109 students who attended interviews, 182 (16.4%) were unsuccessful and even if they graduate this year, may never be able to work as a dentist in the NHS. Professor Franklin said he understood that the uncertainty caused may be ‘unsettling’.

GDPUK understands that the DF year is also viewed internationally as part of the qualification process for UK dental graduates, and the lack of this training place will affect the long term careers of young unemployed graduates.

The General Dental Council (GDC) has informed UK dental schools of an EU requirement that dentists’ studies should total five years and that time spent during a first degree may not count towards the dental training programme. A decision is expected by the end of the year. In the meantime the GDC says those qualifying this summer will be put on the Register.

The handover of BDTA Presidents took place last month at its annual Midwinter Meeting. Edward Attenborough handed over to the incoming President for 2012-13, Simon Tucker. Simon is a partner and director at Medenta with responsibility for finance, marketing ‘and all matters IT’.

Two grants, worth a total of almost £160,000, have been awarded by the Shirley Glasstone Hughes Trust Fund for research projects that will examine the role of dentists' anxieties in clinical decision making and the impact of the choice of linings under amalgam fillings have on outcomes for patients. The winning projects were selected by an international panel of experts, following a comprehensive peer review process of all the applications received.