Dentalroots Issue 3 2012 the Dentistry Alumni Magazine
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DentalROOTS Issue 3 2012 The Dentistry alumni magazine The war against gum disease Also inside: Dentistry’s new home on track for 2014; Community dental expert recalls life in the Firm 2 DentalROOTS Fruit and vegetable compound offers hope against gum disease Scientists at the University of Birmingham have found that supplementing the diet with a special Welcome combination of fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrates may Welcome to the 2012 edition of DentalROOTS, our annual publication intended to keep alumni help to combat chronic gum disease informed on developments in the School of Dentistry during the past year. when combined with conventional dental therapy. We continue to take a forward-looking approach to provide our students with a distinctive high-quality experience. Our students stand tall with no side lean, given the end of the student The results of a preliminary randomised cabinets and also their performance in the national recruitment process and finals. This year saw controlled study show that taking a daily the introduction of a new national recruitment system for foundation training. Any change can be dose of capsules containing concentrated stressful and one such as this even more so given the potential for having a profound impact on phytonutrients improved clinical outcomes the graduates, future careers. The 2012 Birmingham final year students fared well, all passed for patients with chronic periodontitis finals and all were offered a foundation training place; a fortunate position to be in given that (deep-seated gum disease) in the two not all UK graduates managed to secure a place at the time of writing. months following non-surgical periodontal therapy, with additional beneficial changes Last year saw the ten-year anniversary of our postgraduate taught Masters in Advanced General recorded at five and eight months Dental Practice. Originally set up by Professors Trevor Burke and Peter Marquis’ this course draws after therapy. broadly on internal and external speakers. We are now developing a distance learning version, which you can read about later along with a profile of Professor Burke. ‘In recent years it has become clear that refined sugar intake drives inflammation This year has been an exciting year for research. Our staff have enjoyed particular success in in the body, it is called ‘meal-induced securing funding from the National Institute of Health Research, the EU and industry. We have inflammation. Certain diets, such as the seen our College collaborations increase especially through the Chronic Disease Research Centre Mediterranean diet rich in fish oils and at University Hospital Birmingham, and we look forward to further work with the School of Cancer natural fruits and vegetables appear to Sciences in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences. Our research, although diverse, is protect against that inflammation, and we focused into clinical scientist partnerships, and a flavour of it – including work with fruit and wanted to see what the impact would be on vegetables – is included in this edition. severe gum inflammation. This was a very complex study to analyse and we were The biggest project by far over the past year has been the new build project with a planned surprised to see these outcomes, because relocation to the old Pebble Mill site. Stage One business case approval has been granted by when the standard therapy works so well, the Department of Health, and we hope to have gained Stage Two approval by the time of writing it creates a “ceiling effect” whereby it is DentalROOTS next year. difficult to improve further,’ says Professor Iain Chapple of the Periodontal Research Most years we see staff retire. Two legendary contributors to the School and Hospital leave us this Group at the University’s School of year, Carolyn Evans and Don Spence. Carolyn gave many decades of service to the NHS and also Dentistry, which led the study. ‘It is difficult the School through teaching and student support. Don Spence leaves us after 48 years of service, to assess the size of the additional clinical as research technician, dental instructor, admissions tutor and welfare tutor. We wish them both benefit, because these patients were well long, happy and healthy retirements. nourished, and had the highest quality standard therapy anyhow, such that the I hope you enjoy reading this issue of DentalROOTS and that it gives you a feel for the placebo group achieved excellent outcomes commitment of staff and the diverse nature of work at the School of Dentistry. and it is hard to show benefit over and above that. We are very interested in My very best wishes. what the effects will be in people who are nutritionally depleted, and in those who do not or cannot access high-quality gum care.’ Professor Philip Lumley Front cover image: Neutrophil white blood cells Head of School of Dentistry DentalROOTS 3 Dentistry’s new home on track for 2014 Plans for Birmingham’s brand-new dental hospital and School of Dentistry have taken a significant step forward after the Department of Health approved the first of a two-stage planning process. Outline planning consent for the £31 million In March this year the design and development equipment and materials. It is anticipated the development on the former BBC Pebble Mill teams began to consult further with staff, investment in this new facility will add to this site at Mill Road, Edgbaston, was granted students, patient groups and the local reputation, especially when considering a by Birmingham City Council last November. community to scope out the next stage comparable facility has not been constructed Now ministerial approval has been given for of design. within the last 40 years.’ the Stage One business case to create a new hospital and school, replacing the 50-year-old The Department of Health has been unable to He added that the design of the building buildings in the St Chad’s Queensway area of say how long a full planning decision will take was intended to meet the changing needs the city centre. but if permission is granted, it is hoped that of specialist modern dentistry and teaching construction could start as early as this winter, practice. The proposed development, led by Birmingham with the new hospital and School of Dentistry Community Healthcare NHS Trust with open to patients and students at some time The hospital, one of ten of its kind in England, partners the University of Birmingham, during 2014. will deliver the same services as the present Birmingham and Solihull Local Initiative Finance one, which treats around 115,000 patients a Trust (BaS LIFT) and Calthorpe Estates is The artist’s impression shows the design of the year. This could increase to more than 120,000 intended to deliver the same range of quality proposed building with the hospital divided by a year in future, the Trust reported. The city’s services currently provided at the existing site a central entrance and atrium, a larger area for first dental hospital was created in 1858, and in a modern, fit-for-purpose building. medical use and a small section used as an the current building is the sixth incarnation. educational centre. The outline proposals were shared with local The new Dental School plan follows the recent residents, staff and students at three public Birmingham Community Healthcare medical upgrading and renovation projects that have exhibitions in June 2011, providing details of director Rick Roberts commented: ‘The existing created a state-of-the-art Prosectorium at the where the five-storey building would be located hospital and School has a strong international Medical School and seen the transformation of and how the site would be accessed. Their reputation for specialist care, high-calibre the Barnes Library and School foyer, both of feedback was then incorporated into the graduate and postgraduate training as well which directly benefit dental students and were outline proposal. as significant research in dental methods, helped to fruition with generous donations from alumni. 4 DentalROOTS Dental School Instrument Cabinets – No More! Dr David Attrill reports on the end of an era at Birmingham David Attrill and then they are sent back to the sterilisation facility. A 13-mile round trip with a 24-hour turnaround. You can only imagine what the impact has been on the numbers of instruments we need to stock and where we need to store them. Of course our students continue to be taught the principles and practice of local decontamination. The original wooden cabinets were passed on from year to year and have been incredibly resilient. When the odd one got broken it would be replaced with a plastic version and these typically broke within a couple of years. There was a certain sense of pride among those students who were issued with the ‘traditional’ wooden cabinets. Over the last couple of decades, the numbers of instruments that students were expected to carry has increased substantially, and consequently so has the weight of the cabinets. We found ourselves getting up to the point where students were being expected to carry nearly 10kg of weight because of the introduction of new instruments and the need As the joke has gone over the last few years, sense of responsibility among our graduates for to carry multiple sets. you can always tell a Birmingham graduate caring for instruments. It was always up to the because one arm is two inches longer than student to ensure that they had the appropriate I know that many former students will fondly the other. piece of equipment to hand. remember the way they customised their cabinets. In some schools, students were The reason – the student instrument cabinets. We do however have to move with the times given the opportunity of purchasing them and In 2011, and not before time, the student and rightly so.