Reports of illegal teeth-whitening that could leave patients at risk of health problems including burns or lost teeth have increased, the BBC has found. GDC figures showed a 26% rise in reports last year. One beauty school claimed to have provided "thousands" of candidates with illegitimate qualifications, an undercover investigation found.
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The BDA has warned the shortage of face masks sparked by the coronavirus outbreak now poses an imminent risk of disruption to UK dental services, unless officials and industry are prepared to ease rationing. The Association reports it has been inundated by calls from member practices unclear on their options, in the wake of panic buying and supply problems.
Read more: Face mask shortage risks 'imminent disruption' to UK dental services
The Finest Dental chain of dental practices has announced that they will be seeking liquidation and most likely cease trading, the BDA has reported. At present they understand that their practices are closed leaving patients and the associate dentists and other staff who worked at those practices in an uncertain situation. For patients affected the company has posed a message on its website saying that it can be contacted on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Read more: Finest Dental insolvent – uncertainty for patients and practice staff
The Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP(UK)) is encouraging dental practices to take note of interim advice for primary care on coronavirus. The Department of Health guidance aims to help reduce the risk of the spread of infection during and following contact with patients with suspected Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and Public Health England has published an accompanying flowchart.
Read more: Coronavirus: FGDP releases interim advice for primary care
Dental Protection is pleased to confirm that it is providing indemnity to several of Bridge2Aid’s dental volunteers for their 2020 training programmes. Bridge2Aid is a charitable organisation aimed to improve access to emergency dental care by training healthcare workers in developing countries. They have a unique approach that focuses on training rather than treatment and, in doing so, creates a sustainable solution.
Read more: Dental Protection indemnifies dental volunteers at Bridge2Aid
A birthday party was held at BDA headquarters to celebrate 100 years of the Robert and Lillian Lindsay Library, which started in 1920 with 100 books and has now expanded to 28,000 loanable items. It now provides books, ebooks, journals, ejournals, literature searches, article packages, requested articles - all of which can be accessed either remotely or by visiting the library.
The petition by Michelle Solak-Edwards asking the Government to introduce free dental care for cancer patients has been signed by 159,679 people. Her MP, Kate Green, raised the matter with the health secretary and a meeting with minister Jo Churchill, whose remit covers both cancer and dental care, has been agreed and will take place on February 26 in Westminster.
Read more: Petition to enable free dental care for cancer patients signed by 160,000
Martin Woodrow has been appointed as Chief Executive of the British Dental Association on a permanent basis, having been Acting CEO since August 2018. BDA Chair Mick Armstrong said: "We are delighted to have a steady hand on the tiller at Wimpole Street. Martin joined us with a formidable track record built in trade unions and healthcare associations.”
A record number of people in Scotland are registered with an NHS dentist, according to the latest figures. A total of 5.2 million people were signed up as at 30 September 2019. The figure represents 95.7% of the Scottish population, and is an increase of 2.3 percentage points on the previous year. Registration rates were similar for children and adults (94.3% and 96%).
Read more: Record number of Scots registered with NHS dentist