College of General Dentistry News

Report calls for improved provision of preventative oral healthcare

The College and Haleon have published a report on improving the provision of preventative oral healthcare.

Preventative care is defined as proactive dental care and advice that helps a patient to take action to maintain a healthy mouth, protecting against tooth decay, gum disease and more serious issues such as tooth loss and negative impacts on general health. The new report, The Dental Health Barometer, provides recommendations based on the experience and insight of general dental professionals on how to bridge the gap between intentions and practical delivery.

The underlying research began last year with a survey of 2,000 UK dental patients and over 500 dental professionals which highlighted inconsistencies in the provision of preventative oral healthcare advice. (A poster summarising those findings is available, as is a webinar examining them in more detail). This has since been built upon with rich discussions held with 77 oral health professionals, from all dental team roles, in focus group meetings hosted at eight general dental practices throughout the UK.

The most consistent finding is that oral health professionals seek redesigned NHS contracts to allow for more time and financial support in giving preventative oral care advice. The research also finds that the profession would like to see more resources devoted to providing nationwide preventative oral healthcare education, and a national communications campaign to tackle oral health misinformation.

The report highlights wider societal barriers to improving preventative oral care, such as competing social media narratives around oral health, diet and appearance; the erosion of long-term patient relationships; a continuing professional skew in some practices towards clinical treatments; and a tendency among non-dental health professionals not to deliver basic oral health messages.

Additional recommendations include:

  • Simplifying the government’s Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit to make it more user-friendly, and
  • The creation of a consumer-facing version of the Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit
  • Working with non-dental health professionals such as health visitors and midwives to inform them of the benefits of preventative oral care
  • Greater provision of CPD on the delivery of preventative care
  • Encouraging businesses to provide dental cover to employees
  • Celebrating team members such as dental hygienists in the mainstream media
  • Better use of digital communications such as apps and video streaming platforms

Roshni Karia MCGDent, President of the College, said:

“Our focus groups found that many dentists may feel that they are conducting a lonely battle against entrenched patient habits around oral health care, and doing so within NHS contracts which are unfavourable to providing adequate preventative advice. Our work with Haleon highlights the need to take action to support oral health professionals in a real time of need.”

Bas Vorsteveld, Vice President of Haleon and its General Manager for Great Britain and Ireland, commented:

“With a new Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street, our findings could not come at a more pivotal time for the future of dentistry in the UK. Working alongside the College of General Dentistry, we outline the key opportunities, our jointly developed solutions to safeguard the future of preventative oral care provisions for UK consumers and oral health professionals alike. We welcome the new Labour government’s plan to rescue the UK’s dental sector, but we urge them to go further and make NHS contracts fit for purpose by prioritising prevention. Only by working alongside the profession and industry can the new government make the step-change that UK dentistry clearly needs.”

Haleon, formerly the consumer healthcare division of GlaxoSmithKline, is the manufacturer of well-known oral health products such as Sensodyne, Corsodyl, Aquafresh, Poligrip, Biotene and Parodontax.

The College and Haleon will continue to work together to advocate for improvements in the provision of preventative oral healthcare.

The College and Haleon would like to thank all those College members who volunteered to host a focus group in their practice, and all the members, colleagues and patients who participated in the research.

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College of General Dentistry News

Editor sought for Primary Dental Journal

The College is recruiting a new Editor for the Primary Dental Journal (PDJ).

As it approaches its 50th issue, the journal’s longstanding Editor, Professor Igor Blum, will be standing down in 2025, and the College is now seeking a highly accomplished individual to succeed him.

The Editor is the academic lead of the PDJ. They commission individual themes and papers, appoint guest editors, authors and peer reviewers, and act as decision maker in editorial matters, giving final approval of all content and issues. They are also the public face, representative and main spokesperson for the PDJ, helping to ensure that it continues to be seen as a leading journal for primary dental care and that it fulfils its aims as well as those of the College.

The ideal candidate for the role will be a clinically active dental professional who is qualified to consultant level and has experience encompassing primary care, secondary care and academia. A full person specification and role description is available below:

PDJ EDITOR ROLE PROFILE

Applications should be made by CV and a covering letter addressing the requirements described in the role profile. This must be received by Friday 18 October 2024, addressed to [email protected]. Interviews will then be held.

There is no fixed term for the role, and it is intended that the successful candidate will be in place by December 2024. Initially this will be as Editor designate to work with the current Editor on the development of journal issues for publication in the second half of 2025.

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College of General Dentistry News

College informs NAO investigation

The President of the College, Dr Roshni Karia MCGDent, attended a meeting earlier today to help inform a National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into NHS dentistry.

The NAO’s London office, the Grade II listed former Imperial Airways Empire Terminal

The public spending watchdog, which supports Parliament in holding government to account for its expenditure, is in the process of looking into how the previous government developed its ‘Dental Recovery Plan’ for NHS Dentistry, what progress has been made since the plan was announced, and how the government plans to evaluate and monitor its impact.

The College was among the organisations invited to give evidence on the extent and nature of any involvement of the profession in the development of the dental recovery plan; what opportunities there have been to engage with the ongoing delivery of the plan; and how it assesses the likely impact of specific measures in the plan.

The Dental Recovery Plan, announced in February 2024, set out a range of initiatives, both new and previously-announced, intended to help tackle some of the many longstanding problems facing NHS dental provision in England. These included a Smile For Life programme, a new patient premium, mobile dental vans, the use of private practices to deliver NHS care, a ‘golden hello’ for new graduates, an increase in dental school places, medicines exemptions for dental hygienists and therapists, an increase in the minimum value of a Unit of Dental Activity (UDA), more community water fluoridation, more places and sittings for the Overseas Registration Examination and Licentiate in Dental Surgery, faster entry to the NHS Performers List, provisional registration, and the identification of qualifications from outside the European Economic Area which meet the required standard for GDC registration.

The College was not involved in the development of the Dental Recovery Plan, and following its publication issued a point-by-point response.

An update on the new patient premium, minimum UDA value, ‘golden hellos’ and mobile dental vans was published by NHS England in May. The College continues to engage in discussions around introducing medicines exemptions and expanding community water fluoridation, both of which are longstanding government policy, and has also participated in early discussion of provisional registration.

The NAO is expected to publish its report later this year.

College of General Dentistry News

Retiring this year?

If you are planning to discontinue your GDC registration at the end of the year, you can maintain a link with dentistry by staying a member of the College.

Retired members enjoy the same benefits, rights and privileges of the College as practising members, but enjoy a fee discount of up to 66% from their next renewal.

If you retire as an Associate Fellow or Fellow of the College, or are eligible to upgrade to one of these statuses, you will be eligible to attend our biannual Fellows’ Receptions.

If a Fellow and 65 years of age or older, you will also be eligible to become a Life Fellow of the College for a one-off payment, which the College can treat as a donation (and, with your approval, add to it with Gift Aid).

It is also anticipated that retired members will provide a rich resource of mentors for early career colleagues.

Retired Fellows of CGDent or the former FGDP are also eligible to join the 1992 Circle, which is named to commemorate the formation of the FGDP and gathers informally twice a year before Fellows’ Receptions, at no further cost. This provides the opportunity to maintain some professional standing and status throughout your retirement, and to support the further growth and development of the College – for example, Circle members have recorded the history of the FGDP and spearheaded fundraising to support the College’s application for a Coat of Arms. Circle members also receive information on the events and activities of the Lindsay Society for the History of Dentistry.

Retiring and retired members are invited to contact Sir Nairn Wilson CBE ([email protected]), for further information.

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College of General Dentistry News

Education partnership with Dentistry Show London

The College will once again be an education partner at the upcoming Dentistry Show London 2024.

CGDent speakers at Dentistry Show London 2024: Helen Kaney (bottom left), Kaushik Paul (top left), Andrew Gulson (top right) and Sukhvinder Singh Atthi (bottom right). Top centre: representatives at the College exhibition stand

The College will be a partner for the Enhanced CPD Theatre, which will feature 11 lectures over the two-day conference, with experts in their fields sharing their extensive knowledge, and offering practical advice, on an array of important CPD areas. All lectures will be free of charge for both members and non-members of the College. Four of these lectures will be delivered by College representatives:

Medical emergencies

Friday 4 October, 9.15am – 10.00am

Dr Kaushik Paul BDS, MFDS, MJDF, Cert (MOS), Cert (Dental Practice Appraisal), PgCert (Leadership and Management), PgCert (Education), Dip (Con. Sed.), MSc (Oral Surgery), FCGDent, FHEA; accredited Tier 2 Oral Surgery provider and sedation trainer, Clinical Director for MyDentist in the North West.

The Dental Guidance Notes, 2nd edition – what you need to know 

Friday 4 October, 1.15pm – 2.00pm

Andrew Gulson, Principal Radiation Protection Specialist and Dental X-ray Protection Services Technical Manager at the UK Health Security Agency; Specialist Radiation Protection Scientist; certified Radiation Protection Adviser; editor of Guidance Notes for Dental Practitioners on the Safe Use of X-Ray Equipment

Obtaining patient consent: how to protect yourself 

Friday 4 October, 2.15pm – 3.00pm

Dr Helen Kaney BDS, LLB, MBA, FCGDent, FFFLM; dually qualified dentist and solicitor; Dento-Legal Advisor with the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland

Intravenous sedation governance: update for the dental team

Saturday 5 October, 2.15pm – 3.00pm

Dr Sukhvinder Singh Atthi BDS, MFDS, Cert (MOS), Cert (Dental Practice Appraisal), PgCert (Conscious Sedation), PgCert (Leadership and Management), PgCert (Learning & Teaching in Higher Education), Dip. FFGDP(UK), MSc Oral Surgery, MSc Orthodontics, FCGDent, FHEA, ILM; Lecturer in oral surgery, University of Birmingham; Tier II-accredited oral surgeon 

Full details of all the College lectures are available via the above links, and details of the full programme for the Enhanced CPD Theatre and other theatres are available here.

College representatives will also be available throughout the conference at Stand F61 to talk to attendees about all aspects of membership, fellowship and the College’s vision for the profession.

It is not possible to register for any specific lecture in advance, however those wishing to attend will need to register for Dentistry Show London 2024, which is free for all dental professionals. Conference attendees will have access to up to 100 CPD lectures, as well as 180 exhibiting suppliers, and the opportunity to network with 4,000 dentists, practice managers, hygienists and therapists, dental nurses, technicians and laboratory owners.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

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College of General Dentistry News

College supports water fluoridation in the North East

The College is supporting government proposals to extend community water fluoridation in north east England.

Around half of the North East either has naturally fluoridated water or has had its water artificially fluoridated for around half a century, including Newcastle, Gateshead, North Shields, Wallsend, Whitley Bay and parts of County Durham. The Department of Health and Social Care, supported by the relevant local authorities, is proposing to extend this to a further 1.6 million people in Cleveland, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesborough, Northumberland, Redcar, Stockton, Sunderland and Tyneside, as well as neighbouring parts of Westmorland, Furness and North Yorkshire.[i]

The College has submitted a positive response to the proposals, in which Simon Hearnshaw FCGDent, the College’s lead on community water fluoridation, highlights epidemiological data demonstrating significant differences in the prevalence of tooth decay, and rates of extraction, between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas in the region which otherwise have similar indicators of deprivation.

Tooth decay is the most prevalent disease in the UK, and the College supports localised water fluoridation as one means to help reduce its incidence and severity, and the consequent need for invasive oral health interventions, particularly in areas of high need.

There is evidence that the provision of water which is either naturally or artificially fluoridated to around 1 milligram per litre is both safe [ii] [iii] and effective [iv] [v] [vi] in reducing dental caries in a given population. A Cochrane Review in 2015 estimated that water fluoridation resulted in children with no other sources of fluoride having 35% fewer decayed, missing and filled baby teeth and 26% fewer decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth. It also led to a 15% increase in children with no decay in their baby teeth and a 14% increase in children with no decay in their permanent teeth.[vii]

Tooth extraction due to preventable decay remains the most common cause of hospital admission in England for five- to nine-year-old children [viii], and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID, formerly Public Health England) estimates that if all five-year-olds currently drinking water with 0.2mg/l of fluoride instead received fluoridated water of at least 0.7mg/l, then the number experiencing decay would fall by 28% in the most deprived areas, and the number of hospital admissions for tooth extractions due to decay would reduce by up to 68%. An analysis by OHID also found that water fluoridation is the most cost-effective intervention to prevent tooth decay, offering a return on investment of over £12 after 5 years, and £22 after 10 years, for every £1 spent.[ix]

While the four UK Chief Medical Officers have published a statement describing water fluoridation as an effective public health intervention in reducing both tooth decay and oral health inequalities [x], only around one in ten households in England currently receives tap water containing fluoride at the recommended level [xi], and since 1985 over 60 local health authorities have consulted on initiating water fluoridation without success.[xii] But the government now has the power to directly introduce or vary water fluoridation schemes [xiii], and the proposals for the North East will test whether this will lead to new community water fluoridation schemes in England for the first time in 40 years.[xiv]

References

[i] Department of Health and Social Care. Community water fluoridation expansion in the north east of England. June 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/community-water-fluoridation-expansion-in-the-north-east-of-england/community-water-fluoridation-expansion-in-the-north-east-of-england

[ii] Public Health England. 2022. Water fluoridation Health monitoring report for England 2022. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/1060471/water-fluoridation-health-monitoring-report-2022.pdf

[iii] National Health and Medical Research Council. 2017. Information paper—water fluoridation: dental and other human health outcomes. Available at: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/water-fluoridation-dental-and-other-human-health-outcomes

[iv] Griffin SO, Regnier E, Griffin PM and Huntley V, 2007. Effectiveness of fluoride in preventing caries in adults. Journal of Dental Research, 86(5), pp.410-415

[v] Slade GD, Grider WB, Maas WR, Sanders AE. Water Fluoridation and Dental Caries in U.S. Children and Adolescents. J Dent Res. 2018 Sep;97(10):1122-1128

[vi] Touyz LZG, Nassani LM. Affirmation: Fluoridated Water Reduces Caries in Children. J Pediatr Dent Hyg. 2019; 1(1): 1003

[vii] Iheozor-Ejiofor Z, Worthington HV, Walsh T, O’Malley L, Clarkson JE, Macey R, Alam R, Tugwell P, Welch V, Glenny AM. Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries. Cochrane Database Systematic Review. 2015 Jun 18;2015(6):CD010856. Available at: https://www.cochrane.org/CD010856/ORAL_water-fluoridation-prevent-tooth-decay

[viii] Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Hospital tooth extractions in 0 to 19 year olds: short statistical commentary 2023. 8 February 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2023/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-short-statistical-commentary-2023

[ix] Public Health England. 2016. Return on investment of oral health improvement programmes for 0–5-year-olds. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80ee0bed915d74e6231403/ROI_oral_health_interventions.pdf

[x] Department of Health and Social Care. Statement on water fluoridation from the UK Chief Medical officers. 23 September 2021. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-fluoridation-statement-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers/statement-on-water-fluoridation-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers

[xi] Department of Health and Social Care. Community water fluoridation expansion in the north east of England. June 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/community-water-fluoridation-expansion-in-the-north-east-of-england/community-water-fluoridation-expansion-in-the-north-east-of-england

[xii] Goodwin M, Emsley R, Kelly MP, et al. Evaluation of water fluoridation scheme in Cumbria: the CATFISH prospective longitudinal cohort study [Internet]. Southampton (UK): National Institute for Health and Care Research; 2022 Nov. (Public Health Research, No. 10.11.) Chapter 3, History and implementation of water fluoridation as a public health intervention. Available at: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/SHMX1584/

[xiii] Morris AJ, Lowry R. Community water fluoridation: legislation and evidence base. Dental Update 2024 50:6, 707-709. Available at https://www.dental-update.co.uk/content/guest-editorial/community-water-fluoridation-legislation-and-evidence-base/

[xiv] Department of Health and Social Care. Community water fluoridation expansion in the north east of England. June 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/community-water-fluoridation-expansion-in-the-north-east-of-england/community-water-fluoridation-expansion-in-the-north-east-of-england

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College of General Dentistry News

Avijit Banerjee appointed Chair of Faculty of Dentists

Professor Avijit Banerjee FCGDent has been appointed as the first Chair of the Board of the College’s Faculty of Dentists.

The Faculty of Dentists comprises all dentist members of the College, and the Faculty Board advances the interests of dentists as a discrete professional group. The Chair is appointed for a three-year term, advises and reports to the College Council, and works closely with the President and other Faculty Board Chairs in realising College priorities.

Professor Banerjee is Professor of Cariology and Operative Dentistry, Clinical Lead for Undergraduate Education, and Honorary Consultant and Clinical Lead for Restorative Dentistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London (KCL) and Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals Trust. 

He is also KCL’s Head of Conservative & Minimum Intervention (MI) Dentistry, Programme Director of its distance-learning MSc in Advanced MI Dentistry, leads its Cariology & Operative Dentistry research programme, and continues to work in private practice in north London as a specialist in restorative dentistry, prosthodontics and periodontics.

Born in Kuala Lumpur and raised in Bolton, after graduating in 1993 from the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals (UMDS, now part of KCL), he became a House Officer in oral surgery and orthodontics at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, then a Senior House Officer in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Mount Vernon, Hillingdon and Watford General Hospitals.

With thirty years’ experience as a researcher, teacher and examiner, he has worked at KCL since returning to the then-UMDS as a Clinical Training Fellow in 1995, becoming a Clinical Lecturer in 1998, Senior Clinical Lecturer in 2005, and Reader, then Professor, in 2011. He holds an MSc in Mineralised Tissue Biology and a PhD in Cariology, and in 2022 received the International Association of Dental Research’s William H Bowen Distinguished Scientist Award for Research in Dental Caries.

Editor-in-Chief of the journal Oral Health & Preventive Dentistry, he is an Associate Editor of the British Dental Journal, an editorial board member of the International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives and of Dental Update, and a peer reviewer for thirteen dental journals. He is also the author of 158 published peer-reviewed papers covering cariology and MI operative dentistry, microscopy, dental biomaterials science and dental education research, and author or editor of seven books (and a number of book chapters), most recently A Clinical Guide to Advanced Minimum Intervention Restorative Dentistry.

A Fellow of CGDent and Chair of its Career Pathways Programme Board, he is a reviewer of the forthcoming third edition of Standards in Dentistry, and has previously served on the editorial board of the Primary Dental Journal and as a subject matter expert for the Diploma in Restorative Dentistry of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP).

He has also gained Fellowship of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, of the Higher Education Academy, of the International College of Dentists and of the former FGDP.

He is Deputy Lead of the NIHR Clinical Research Network Oral & Dental Specialty, a Council Member of the European Federation of Conservative Dentistry, and a member of the BDA Health and Science Committee and BDA Indemnity Advisory Panel. He has previously served as a Council Member of the British Society of Restorative Dentistry and of the British Society of Oral & Dental Research, and as President of the BDA Metropolitan Branch.

A member of the European Organisation for Caries Research and of the British Association for Teachers of Conservative Dentistry, he is also an Honorary Member of the Association of Consultants and Specialists in Restorative Dentistry and of the British Association of Dental Therapists, and an Honorary Fellow of the Society of British Dental Nurses.

He is an Honorary Consultant Advisor to the Office of the Chief Dental Officer for England, Visiting Professor at CEU Cardinal Herrera University in Valencia, and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University in Bhubaneswar and at Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals in Chennai. He was previously a Visiting Professor at Oman Dental College, and an Honorary Professor at Hong Kong University.

At 7pm on Monday 22 July 2024, Professor Banerjee will be presenting a live CGDent webinar entitled Minimum intervention oral care (MIOC): making caries prevention pay in primary care, which will be free to view all dental professionals. College members will also have free access to the recording of the webinar and can claim CPD hours for free.


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College of General Dentistry News

MSc fast-track for Associate Fellows and Fellows

Fellows and Associate Fellows of the College are now eligible to enrol on a ‘top-up’ Master’s degree, which can be completed during a single year of part-time distance learning.

Holders of ‘FCGDent’ and ‘AssocFCGDent’ status can enter via advanced standing into Stage 3 of the MSc in General Dental Practice offered by Aston University, with their attainment recognised as equivalent to 90 credits of relevant prior learning at level 7.

The arrangement applies regardless of dental team role or location, so long as the applicant meets the university’s standard postgraduate admissions criteria.

The course consists of a 30-credit taught module in advanced research methods followed by a 60-credit individual research project pertaining to clinical dental practice.

The programme develops competence in research skills including development of hypotheses, research design, execution, data analysis and interpretation, critical evaluation of literature, understanding of ethical issues and reporting of an empirically-based project.

On completion of the taught component, students will be able to select and implement appropriate quantitative and qualitative techniques for different research questions and designs, and will know how to manage their time and resources when undertaking research independently. They will then develop a suitable research question for their topic of choice within the field of general dental practice and plan a programme of research.

Delivered by the Cambridge Academy of Postgraduate Dentistry, learning methods include online lectures, seminars, tutorials, small group activity, independent study, assignments and reflections on assignment feedback. Assessment will be through a combination of continuous assessment, logbook, research proposal, presentations and a dissertation.

Fellowship of the College requires a breadth and depth of knowledge, skills and experience fulfilling the requirements of at least three of five fellowship domains (clinical; teaching, learning & assessment; leadership & management; publications & research; and law & ethics). 

Associate Fellowship of the College acts as a stepping stone to Fellowship, and is open to any dental professional holding the MGDS, DPDS, a relevant and accredited Level 7 Postgraduate Diploma providing 120 UK credits, a Specialty Membership of a UK Faculty or certain CGDent/FGDP(UK)/RCS Edinburgh-issued diplomas. The majority of Associate Fellows will find that their qualifying award already fulfils the requirements of the clinical domain of Fellowship, and successful completion of the MSc in General Dental Practice would also satisfy the requirements of the research domain.

Aston University is the only provider in the UK offering students the opportunity to top up their existing dentistry qualification and convert it into a fully approved Master’s qualification. The next cohort of the MSc in General Dental Practice starts in September 2024.

For further information, or to register your interest, email [email protected], call 0121 204 3200, or click the button below.

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College of General Dentistry News

College Medal awarded to Ario Santini

Professor Ario Santini FCGDent has been awarded the College Medal, the College’s most prestigious honour. 

Prof Santini being presented with the certificate formalising his award by outgoing College President, Dr Abhi Pal

Reserved for no more than one recipient per year, the College Medal is awarded for exceptional service to the dental profession and its patients in a manner aligned with the values and mission of the College. Professor Santini has received the award in recognition of his considerable contributions to postgraduate dental education and dental research, including through the College and the former FGDP, during a career spanning more than half a century.

After graduating BDS from the University of Edinburgh in 1966, he studied statistics for a further year, and was a House Officer at Edinburgh Dental Hospital. He was then a general dental practitioner (GDP) in the Lothian region, and partner in a mixed NHS-and-private practice in Edinburgh, for 33 years, and was one of the first GDPs to engage in and publish practice-based research outcomes. For fifteen of these years, he was also a visiting dentist for the Scottish Prison Service, and for ten he was a Clinical Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer, in restorative dentistry and latterly also forensic medicine, at the University of Edinburgh. He was also the first GDP to obtain the DDS degree by thesis from Edinburgh, and later completed a Diploma in Forensic Medicine from the University of Glasgow and a PhD from the University of Nijmegen.

He was a Council member of the Lothian Area Dental Committee for over ten years, including a period of service as Chair, as well as a member of Lothian Health Board and Chair of its General Dental Practitioners sub-committee. He has also served on committees for the National Association of Prison Dentistry, the Oral & Dental Speciality Group of the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme.

For almost 20 years, he served the British Dental Association in a number of local, regional and national roles including election to the Scottish Council, the General Dental Services Committee and the Presidency of the East of Scotland Branch.

A founding member of the FGDP, he has been involved with the Faculty, now College, ever since. He achieved the Diploma in General Dental Practice in 1992 and Fellowship in 2010, was appointed to the Faculty Academy in 2020, and is now a Fellow of CGDent.

A member of the Faculty Board for many years, he served on the External Affairs and Quality Control committees and was elected Vice Dean. He also established the FGDP Research Committee, and as Chair for six years was the driving force behind numerous lectures, study days and other initiatives. He was also co-author of the Faculty’s Introduction to research for primary dental care clinicians guidance, which remains available through the College, and which he has recently updated and expanded (together with Professor Kenneth Eaton FCGDent) into a comprehensive 300 page guide. Most recently, he was co-author of The history of the College of General Dentistry: the formation of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners, which was published in the Dental Historian.[1]

He was also a co-organiser for the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education of MGDS exam preparation courses, a lecturer in endodontics and research methodology to Vocational Trainees, a scholarship assessor for the British Society of General Dental Surgery, examiner for the MJDF and MGDS, Honorary Professor at the University of Belgrade and a Visiting Professor at the University of Sassari.

For over a decade he was Director of Biomaterial Research at the Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Institute, lecturing in research methodology and statistics to postgraduate MSc and PhD students and supervising MClinDent and PhD projects, and for four of these he was also a visiting lecturer in research methodology for undergraduate veterinary students.

From 2010 until his retirement in 2022, he was Professor of Postgraduate Medical Studies at the University of Târgu Mureș, Romania, where he developed and led a course in research methodology for medical students studying for MSc and PhD degrees.

He has been awarded Fellowships of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow, the Academy of Dental Materials, the Academy of Facial Aesthetics and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh, and has received Life Membership of the British Dental Association and the prestigious Doctor Honoris Causa from the George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology. 

He is also a primary author of three books and over 200 published papers and abstracts, and has been a peer reviewer and editorial board member for a wide range of academic journals. He was among those who created the FGDP’s Primary Dental Care journal, and later Primary Dental Journal, which is still published quarterly by the College. Setting out the latest evidence in the evolving art and science of general dentistry, these journals have formed the intellectual backbone of the Faculty and College, complementary to its guidance and standards publications, through 120 issues to date over 30 years – and in his role as Research Editor, Prof Santini has contributed to every one.

A certificate formalising the award of the College Medal was presented to Prof Santini at the CGDent Fellows’ Summer Reception, which was held at Cutler’s Hall in London on Thursday 20 June. The College has deferred the casting of medals pending grant of a Coat of Arms, which is expected soon. Previous winners (including of the preceding Faculty Medal) were Shelagh Farrell, Mike Mulcahy, Nikolaus Palmer, Professor Ken Eaton, Ian Mills and Andrew Hadden.

Dr Abhi Pal, who conferred the award in one of his final duties as President of the College, said:

“Ario is an extraordinarily committed and accomplished colleague whose contributions to supporting the provision of high quality oral healthcare have been significant and exceptional. The College Medal is the highest honour we bestow, and it is my privilege to be able to confer upon him this most deserved recognition of his remarkable career, and of his record of service to the Faculty, College and profession as a whole.”

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[1] Gordon E, Santini A, Wilson N. The history of the College of General Dentistry: the formation of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners. Dental Historian, 2024 69 (1) 7-15.

College of General Dentistry News

New PDJ online: General dentistry (part two)

The latest issue of the Primary Dental Journal, ‘General dentistry (part two)’, is now available to view online.

This new issue contributes to broadening knowledge on a range of relevant topics for the whole dental team, with papers that have been carefully curated by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Prof Igor Blum (Clinical Professor of Primary Care Dentistry and Advanced General Dental Practice at King’s College London).

Featured subjects include an insight into the information provided by Greater Manchester dental practice websites on oral cancer; a paradigm shift in dental caries management using silver modified atraumatic restorative treatment (SMART); an overview of the remarkable two-way links between diabetes mellitus and periodontal disease; and a thought-provoking article on regenerative endodontics. Also included in this issue – in the fleeting interim between Presidents, as we bid a fond farewell to Abhi Pal and warmly welcome Roshni Karia to this post – is a unique update from the College’s Chair of Trustees, Mick Horton. (The full list of contents is below.)

Outlining the purposes of the general dentistry issues, Prof Blum said:

“I hope you will enjoy this issue and find the articles… both interesting and stimulating..”

Full online access to the majority of articles is reserved for College of General Dentistry members and Primary Dental Journal subscribers, who can also expect their printed copies to arrive in the next 2–3 weeks.

For non-members / non-subscribers, at least one paper in each issue is made available online free of charge, with all other articles available to purchase via the links below.

An annual print subscription, normally costing £130, is included with membership of the College, which also includes online access to the current issue, access to the PDJ Archive of over 1,400 past articles, and a range of other benefits. College membership, which is tax deductible, is available from £44.

On behalf of the College, the PDJ editorial team would like to express its gratitude to all the authors and peer reviewers who have contributed to the publication of this issue.

CGDent members can view full articles by logging in via the yellow button below, then clicking ‘Access the PDJ Archive’:

PDJ MEMBER ACCESS

Issue contents:

The next issue of the journal, Implant dentistry (part one), is due out in Autumn 2024.

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