The art and science of oral medicine

Professor Igor Blum, Editor of the Primary Dental Journal (PDJ), introduces the latest issue, which provides an overview and update on oral medicine for the general dental team

The art and science of oral medicine begins with the pioneering work of Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (1828–1900), a surgeon at the London Hospital, who is also regarded in the UK as the Father of Oral Medicine.1 He reported on the dental manifestations of congenital syphilis, intraoral pigmentation and perioral pigmentation associated with intestinal polyposis, later described by Peutz in 1921.2 Subsequently, ten further cases were described by Jeghers, McKusick, and Katz who also reviewed the literature on this topic in 1949.3 Individuals with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome commonly present with an association of gastrointestinal polyps, mucocutaneous pigmentation, a familial incidence, and are at an increased risk of various cancers.

Much of the early description of oral mucosal diseases was found in dermatology textbooks, as documented in the works of the English surgeon and dermatologist Sir William James Erasmus Wilson (1809–1884).4,5 Sir William Osler (1849–1919), a Canadian physician and co-founder of the Medical Library Association of Great Britain and Ireland, recognised the importance of the oral cavity and believed that the tongue and oral mucosa reflect a patient’s overall health.6 This idea, held in various medical and traditional practices, suggests that changes in the appearance or condition of the mouth, including the tongue and soft tissues, can indicate underlying systemic health issues.

In a thoroughly researched and well written article by Professor Crispian Scully in 2016, he described the immense contributions of various stalwarts who were instrumental in the initiation and popularisation of the discipline of oral medicine over a 50-year period, between 1920 and 1970.7 In the UK, the evolution of oral medicine has its origin in oral pathology and resulted in its recognition as a dental specialty by the General Dental Council in 1998, with tribute paid to the founders of the British Society for Oral Medicine (BSOM) – the predecessor organisation of The British & Irish Society for Oral Medicine (BISOM) which was established in 1981.

Although not a substitute by any means for an extensive quality textbook on oral medicine, the editorial team felt it was timely to produce an issue of the Primary Dental Journal devoted to the common and important oral medicine conditions encountered in general dental practice. This themed issue on oral medicine is geared to primary care dental practitioners and dental care professionals as a refresher and an update on oral medicine-related diseases. The articles in this issue provide an overview of current thinking in the more relevant areas of oral medicine. The clinical aspects of the relevant disorders are discussed, including a brief overview of the aetiology, detail on the clinical features, and how the diagnosis is made. Guidance on management and when to refer is also provided, along with relevant websites which offer further detail.

A major challenge in the diagnosis of oral disease is the need for memorising long lists of oral lesions from oral medicine/oral pathology literature. This is made more difficult because many of these lesions are not frequently encountered by the primary care dental team. This new issue of the journal highlights common oral conditions that may be encountered in the dental practice. Pulpal, periapical, and periodontal diseases are intentionally not discussed in this issue since primary care dental clinicians are experienced in diagnosing and managing those conditions.

I trust that the oral medicine-themed issue of the PDJ will serve as a tabletop reference in General Dental Practice. The discussion of the entire spectrum of oral diseases is beyond the scope of this single issue; instead, we have selected what we believe to be important oral medicine conditions. The introductory article addresses an approach in formulating clinical diagnosis and management of the various types of oral candidosis. This is followed by articles on oral lichen planus and lichenoid lesions, managing a dry mouth in primary care, a review of common oral medicine conditions in children, oral facial pain, burning mouth syndrome, and chronic graft versus host disease (cGvHD). Although the latter is less common, it can occur in the increasing numbers of patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants.8

The information presented is primarily aimed to cover the diagnostic aspects and an overview of patient management, including patient referral. The main objective is to provide readers with a cutting-edge update on the above topics, including raising awareness of the need to diagnose and manage patients with oral medicine conditions in primary care, and when to make a referral to an oral medicine service if available. Alternatively, a referral to a specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery can be made when appropriate.

It is hoped that this themed issue will help the primary care dental team to integrate the principles of oral medicine and oral pathology into clinically applicable concepts that will enable the practitioner to develop clinical differential diagnoses and participate in definitive diagnosis through a multidisciplinary approach with dental specialty teams. It is my further hope that the reader will not only be provided with updated information as to the multiple facets of oral medicine conditions but will also find new information to further aid them in the diagnosis and management of these occasionally enigmatic disorders.

No issue of the Primary Dental Journal could come to successful fruition without the contributions of well-qualified authors. I am extremely thankful to the guest editor, Dr Emma Hayes, consultant in oral medicine, and to all contributing authors for their invaluable input to this issue. I believe that this edition of the Primary Dental Journal will be an asset and resource to the general dental practice team.

The Primary Dental Journal is the College’s quarterly peer-reviewed journal dedicated to general dental practice. The titles and abstracts of PDJ papers are available to all dental professionals via the searchable PDJ homepage, with full paper access available to College members through the PDJ Library.

Printed copies of the Summer 2025 issue on oral medicine should arrive with College members in the second half of September.

References

1 Spielman AI. History of Oral Diagnosis, Medicine, Pathology and Radiology. In: Illustrated Encyclopedia of the History of Dentistry. [Internet]. New York: History of Dentistry and Medicine; 2023. Available at historyofdentistryandmedicine.com [Accessed Jun 2025]

2Peutz JLA. Over een zeer merkwaardige, gecombineerde familiaire pollyposis van de sligmliezen van den tractus intestinalis met die van de neuskeelholte en gepaard met eigenaardige pigmentaties van huid-en slijmvliezen (Very remarkable case of familial polyposis of the mucous membrane of the intestinal tract and nasopharynx accompanied by peculiar pigmentations of skin and mucous membrane). Nederl Maandschr v Geneesk. 1921;10:134-146. Dutch.

3Jeghers H, McKusick VA, Katz KH. Generalized Intestinal Polyposis and Melanin Spots of the Oral Mucosa, Lips and Digits — A Syndrome of Diagnostic Significance. N Engl J Med. 1949;241(26):1031-1036.

4Wilson E. On The Management of the Skin as a Means of Promoting and Preserving Health (3rd ed.). London: John Churchill; 1849. Retrieved 15 June 2025. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)

5Wilson E. On Diseases of the Skin (4th American, from the 4th & enlarged London ed.). Philadelphia: Blanchard & Lea; 1857. Retrieved 15 June 2025. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)

6Stone MJ. The wisdom of Sir William Osler. Am J Cardiol. 1995;75(4):269-276.

7Scully C. Oral medicine in academia. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2016;122(1):111.

8Passweg JR, Baldomero H, Chabannon C, et al. Hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy survey of the EBMT: monitoring of activities and trends over 30 years. 2021;56(7):1651-1664.

New PDJ online: Oral medicine

The latest issue of the Primary Dental Journal, ‘Oral medicine’, is now available to read online.

The papers in this issue of the PDJ have been brought together by Guest Editor Dr Emma Hayes, a Consultant and Clinical Lead in Oral Medicine at King’s College London Dental Institute.

A core theme in this collection of papers is to highlight the vital role that dental professionals contribute to the diagnosis and management of patients with oral medicine conditions. The issue covers the wide range of oral medicine conditions seen at various ages and stages of life, from an overview of conditions seen in the paediatric population, to salivary gland hypofunction, more often seen in an older population.

As well as common oral medicine conditions frequently encountered in dental practice, this issue of the PDJ also highlights some of the rarer conditions that may initially be presented to dentists (such as trigeminal neuralgia) and where early diagnosis is essential to improving patient outcomes. A full list of papers is below.

Dr Hayes describes the ambition for this Oral medicine issue of the journal:

It is my hope that these papers will act as a useful reference for dental professionals into the future. I also hope that it will inspire primary dental care practitioners to continue to take an interest in oral medicine and feel empowered to participate in the early identification and management of these patients.

This issue also marks the first where the College’s new Coat of Arms appears throughout, in light of its newly-acquired Grant of Arms received under Crown authority by the College of Arms. An image of the elaborate Grant of Arms can be seen on the inside front cover of the print edition. The News & Perspectives section of this issue examines the Grant of Arms, the symbolism behind the heraldic elements in the Coat of Arms, and how to donate to the College’s Coat of Arms fund for those wishing to secure a special place in the history of the development of the College.

Full online access to the majority of articles in this and previous issues is reserved for College of General Dentistry members and Primary Dental Journal subscribers, who can also expect their printed copies to arrive in early September. New joiners wishing to receive a copy of this issue can let us know by emailing [email protected]

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 to the PDJ is included with membership of the College, which also includes online access to over 1,500 current and past articles in the PDJ Library and a range of other benefits.

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 this issue.

ISSUE CONTENTS:

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

The next issue of the journal, on the topic of Leadership, is due out in Autumn 2025.

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Marking another milestone

Igor Blum FCGDent, Clinical Professor of Primary Care Dentistry and Advanced General Dental Practice at King’s College London and Editor of the Primary Dental Journal, and Sir Nairn Wilson CBE FCGDent, President Emeritus of the College and the journal’s first Editor, celebrate the publication of its fiftieth issue

Prof Igor Blum FCGDent (left) and Sir Nairn Wilson CBE FCGDent (right)

The latest issue of the Primary Dental Journal (PDJ) – the 50th to date – is a truly special ‘general dentistry’ edition marking this significant milestone.

Not only does the PDJ have a rich history of serving general dental practice, but it is also one of the premier journals for intellectual discourse on all aspects of primary dental care pertinent to members of the whole dental team.

First published in 2012, shepherded under the tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the then Professor (now Sir) Nairn Wilson, it brought together three publications of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP[UK]): Primary Dental Care (a research journal for dentists), Team in Practice (a journal for Dental Care Professionals) and the newsletter First Hand.

The fourth volume of the journal, published in 2015, was produced with the assistance of a new Clinical Editor – Dr (now Professor) Igor Blum. In addition to themed issues on Consent (curated by Guest Editor, Andy Toy), Special Care Dentistry (Guest Editors, Debbie Chandler and Richard Valle-Jones) and Paediatric Dentistry (Guest Editor, Richard Welbury), the volume included the journal’s first ‘general issue’ with papers on a range of topics, including temporomandibular dysfunction, contemporary laboratory work, tooth surface loss, the effects of bisphosphonates in implant dentistry, reducing harm (iatrogenic damage) in the provision of care, risk assessment and the prevention and management of dry sockets.

Volume 6, issue 1 was a special, one-off, commemorative issue of PDJ to help mark and celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the formation of the FGDP(UK). In addition to a ‘conversation’ between Professor Nairn Wilson and the then Dean of the Faculty, Mick Horton, and a photo montage of the history of the faculty, the issue included commissioned papers by leading dental experts in the UK. This commemorative issue and the subsequent two themed issues – Dental Emergencies (Guest Editor, Russ Ladwa) and Extended Integrated Care (Guest Editor, Kathy Fan) were Professor Wilson’s last contributions to PDJ before passing on the baton to Dr Blum in 2017.

Professor Blum’s first issue as Editor-in-Chief was the December 2017 (Volume 6, issue 4) themed issue on Removable Prosthodontics (Guest Editor, Graham Stokes). Professor Blum’s vision for the journal was to evolve, grow and, in the process, continue to go from strength to strength. A further vision was to make the journal accessible on an international level, rather than limiting it to the readership in the UK, for the benefit of primary dental care teams and their patients around the world.

Within each annual volume, two or three issues are themed on specific and relevant fields of interest, and one or two ‘general dentistry’ issues cover a wide range of topics. Each issue offers a combination of research, clinical best practice papers and scenario articles which allow the whole dental team to work together to improve standards of patient care. In Spring 2021 the PDJ published its 10th Volume Anniversary special issue celebrating this remarkable milestone.

After nine years’ publication by the FGDP(UK), the College took over in 2021, and this 2025 Spring issue marks fifty issues of the journal as a source for dissemination of contemporary research, clinical and non-clinical articles relevant to general dental practice.

Since its inception, the PDJ has evolved substantially and earned an established place as an authoritative source in today’s dental literature. As such, it provides CGDent with one of its most valued membership benefits. While its purpose has been constant – to be a professional development journal for the whole dental team, and a record and source of news about the College – its editorial and production processes and standards have evolved over the years.

Most significantly, in 2019 the FGDP entered into a contract with Sage Publishing and the PDJ has progressed from an in-house ‘cottage industry’ publication to an internationally accessible publication with an electronic editorial management platform, ScholarOne. As such the journal benefits from the resources available through our publisher, which has facilitated its continued growth.

Over the years, we have watched with great pleasure how the PDJ has grown and gained ever-increasing standing and status in becoming an internationally recognised and esteemed journal, aimed at the whole primary care team. The journal is now indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus, and 1,500 papers – past and present – are available online to CGDent members through the PDJ Library and in over 10,000 academic institutions worldwide.

With the current international exposure of articles published in the PDJ, there have been many thousands of downloads and citations of articles. This confirms that the PDJ has an international reach and impact on the dental team and clinical practice, both nationally and internationally, improving standards of patient care.

As a result, the PDJ has started to attract international dental experts as guest editors. In the context of a new membership organisation borne out of a more established one, the journal has also played a central role in providing reassurance and continuity of service to members over the last four years and has developed an important role in supporting the College’s membership retention and growth.

Looking back, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the very many authors, guest editors, peer reviewers, staff and others who have contributed to each of the 50 issues to date and enabled us to reach this important milestone.

Special thanks must be extended to the former and current managing editors of the journal – Amy Brewerton, Hillevi Sellén, and Lily Atkins; to a member of the founding Editorial Board, Ario Santini FCGDent, who continues to provide highly rated abstracts of relevance to the contents of each issue of the journal; and to Darren Westlake, who has designed the covers and laid out the figures in each and every issue.

We are confident that we have created an attractive, distinctive, reader-friendly journal and it is our hope that you will enjoy the 50th issue and join the previous and current editorial team in celebrating all it stands for.

A list of the themed editions within the first 50 issues of the PDJ is available here

The titles and abstracts of PDJ papers are available to all dental professionals via the searchable PDJ homepage, with full paper access available to College members through the PDJ Library

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College celebrates 50th issue of the Primary Dental Journal

The College has this week published the fiftieth issue of the Primary Dental Journal, its quarterly peer-reviewed professional development journal for General Dental Practitioners and Dental Care Professionals working in primary care.

Translating current evidence into best practice, each issue of the PDJ offers a combination of research, clinical best practice papers and scenario articles which allow the whole dental team to work together to improve standards of patient care. Unique in its dedication to general dental practice, the PDJ’s general issues include a range of papers on a variety of relevant topics of interest, and its themed issues explore subjects in depth and are guest edited by renowned experts in their fields.

First published in 2012, the PDJ brought together three publications of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FGDP): Primary Dental Care (a research journal for dentists), Team in Practice (a journal for Dental Care Professionals) and the newsletter First Hand. Since 2019, the PDJ has been published in partnership with one of the world’s leading journal publishers, and the College took over editorial production from the FGDP in 2021.

CGDent is the UK’s only medical college run by and for dental professionals, and welcomes all oral health professionals into Associate Membership and those with relevant postgraduate qualifications, skills and experience into Full Membership, Associate Fellowship and Fellowship. Supporting professional development and recognition for the whole dental team, the College is building on the achievements of the FGDP in setting standards for general dental care, and has a vision to achieve Royal College standing.

The PDJ is printed and distributed to the College’s UK and international members, indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus, and 1,500 papers past and present are available online to College members and in over 10,500 academic institutions worldwide.

In addition to 9 general issues to date, themed issues of the PDJ have been published on:

  • Infection prevention and control
  • Radiology and radiation protection (x2)
  • Implant dentistry (x3)
  • Management of caries
  • Aesthetic dentistry (x3)
  • Medical emergencies
  • Advances in the restoration of posterior teeth
  • Non-surgical therapy and management of periodontal disease (x2)
  • Prescribing in dentistry
  • Communication, complaints & consent
  • Special care dentistry (x2)
  • Paediatric dentistry (x2)
  • Oral mucosal disease
  • Endodontics (x2)
  • Tooth wear
  • Orthodontics
  • Operative dentistry
  • Dental emergencies
  • Extended integrated care
  • Removable prosthodontics
  • Digital dentistry (x2)
  • Primary care oral surgery (x2)
  • Dental pain & anxiety
  • Dento-legal matters
  • Fixed prosthodontics
  • Oral health and the ageing population
  • Leadership and professionalism
  • Urgent dental care & COVID-19
  • Dental trauma

The titles and abstracts for papers in all these issues are available to all dental professionals via the searchable PDJ homepage, with full paper access available to members of the College through the PDJ Library (members will need to be logged in to see this page).

Fittingly, the new 50th issue is a bumper ‘General dentistry’ edition with papers covering a wide range of topics such as an assessment of how artificial intelligence can assist in the evaluation of patients’ medical histories; a guide to skin cancer and what to look for in protecting your patients; how digital innovations can enhance occlusal diagnostics and treatment precision; the role of hypnosis in patient stress and pain management; and minimum intervention oral care. In this special issue, six papers have been made available in full to the whole dental profession free of charge. A full list of papers is available here

A reception to celebrate the first 50 issues of the PDJ was recently held in London, hosted by Professor Sir Nairn Wilson CBE FCGDent (Chair of the first Editorial Board), Professor Igor Blum FCGDent (current Editor-in-Chief) and Dr Roshni Karia MCGDent (President of the College).

The next three issues of the PDJ will be on oral medicine, leadership and temporomandibular disorders, and dental professionals can make sure to receive these by joining the College. Membership is available from £45 and includes a range of other benefits.

While full PDJ access is reserved for members, non-members can access the College’s standards and guidance publications free of charge online, and receive its free monthly email of news and events, by becoming a College Subscriber

Commenting on the publication of the 50th issue, Sir Nairn and Prof Blum said:

“The Primary Dental Journal has a rich history of serving general dental practice, and is pertinent to members of the whole dental team. It has earned an established place as an authoritative source in today’s dental literature and is one of the premier journals for intellectual discourse on all aspects of primary dental care. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the very many authors, guest editors, peer reviewers, staff and others who have contributed to each of the 50 issues to date and enabled us to reach this important milestone.”

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New PDJ online: The 50th issue – General dentistry

The 50th issue of the Primary Dental Journal, ‘General dentistry’, is now available to view online.

This latest PDJ marks the fiftieth issue since its initial publication in 2012, under the College’s predecessor organisation, the Faculty of General Dental Practice – FGDP (UK). In their editorial, current Editor-in-Chief, Prof Igor Blum, and Chair of the first Editorial Board, Professor Sir Nairn Wilson, celebrate this milestone with a nod to all who have contributed, by reflecting on the early days of the PDJ and where the journal is now in improving standards of patient care:

“Not only does the journal have a rich history of serving general dental practice, but it is also one of the premier journals for intellectual discourse on all aspects of primary dental care pertinent to members of the whole dental team.”

This special ‘bumper’ issue includes a wide range of General dentistry topics, such as an assessment of how artificial intelligence (AI) can assist in the evaluation of patients’ medical histories; a guide to skin cancer and what to look for in protecting your patients; how digital innovations can enhance occlusal diagnostics and treatment precision; the role of hypnosis in patient stress and pain management; and minimum intervention oral care (MIOC). A full list of papers is below.

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 around the end of May. New joiners wishing to receive a copy of this issue can let us know by emailing [email protected]

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 to the PDJ is included with membership of the College, which also includes online access to over 1,500 current and past articles in the PDJ Library and a range of other benefits.

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 this issue.

ISSUE CONTENTS:

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

The next issue of the journal, Oral Medicine, is due out in Summer 2025.

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New PDJ online: Implant dentistry (part two)

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

While Implant Dentistry (part one) covered the roles of dental team members in managing implant patients within dental primary care, this part 2 issue focusses on clinical aspects of implant dentistry, including complications and adverse events, and recent technological advancements in the field, providing strategies for dental professionals.

The issue’s Guest Editor is Professor Ilser Turkyilmaz, Associate Dean of Digital Innovation, Professor and Chair at USA Case Western Reserve University’s School of Dental Medicine. Professor Turkyilmaz explains the thinking behind the collection of topics in the part 2 issue:

“As we continue to advance in the field of implant dentistry, clinicians face an ongoing challenge to adopt and incorporate modern tools and materials that elevate the quality of patient care while simultaneously reducing the complexity of their workflows. Our goal with this issue is to enrich the knowledge base of both new and experienced practitioners, empowering them to achieve optimal patient outcomes…in the dynamic field of implant dentistry.”

Papers included in this issue cover a range of digital and analogue workflows, with the core emphasis on the importance of thorough treatment planning, reinforced by advanced imaging techniques. A full list is below.

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 around the end of January. New joiners wishing to receive a copy of this issue can let us know by emailing [email protected]

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 to the PDJ is included with membership of the College, which also includes online access to over 1,500 current and past articles in the PDJ Library and a range of other benefits.

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 this issue.

ISSUE CONTENTS:

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

An earlier version of this article was published on 26 December 2024. The next issue of the journal, General Dentistry, is due out in Spring 2025.

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20 years of Training Standards in Implant Dentistry

Thursday 5 February 2026, London

Candidates awaiting conferral of awards by the former FGDP(UK) at a Diplomates’ Day

The Court Room, Cutlers’ Hall, Warwick Lane, London EC4M 7BR

This event will mark 20 years since first publication of Training Standards in Implant Dentistry by the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP).

It will also celebrate the Faculty’s significant contribution to postgraduate education through its Diploma in Implant Dentistry programme, and highlight the College’s role in raising standards in the field through the publication of mentoring guidelines and dedicated journal issues, the launch of the Register of Mentors in Implant Dentistry, and the creation of a Career Pathway for Implant Dentistry (details of which will be announced in due course).

Tickets for this event are not yet available; a booking link will be added shortly.

This event will be followed at 6pm by the College’s Fellows’ Winter Reception and Presentations of Associate Fellows and Fellows upstairs in the Livery Hall. This is a chargeable event with separate ticketing arrangements.

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Calling all PDJ authors

The College is reaching out to all past contributors to the Primary Dental Journal – authors, guest editors, peer reviewers, book reviewers and editorial board members – who are invited to attend a reception marking the impending 50th issue.

The event, The Primary Dental Journal: celebrating 50 issues, will take place in London on Thursday 30 January 2025.

First published in 2012, the PDJ was produced for nine years by the Faculty of General Dental Practice of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FGDP), with the College taking over following the transfer-in of the FGDP over in 2021.

The College has distributed invitations to the reception by email to those PDJ contributors for whom it holds a functioning email address. However, the College does not hold functioning email addresses for all past PDJ contributors, and would like to encourage those to whom this applies to get in touch.

If you are a current or past member of the College and have previously contributed to the PDJ, we have sent an invitation to the email address you have most recently registered with us. We also hold email addresses for those who subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter and those who have registered for an account on the College website (for purposes such as viewing our standards and guidance publications). We have sent invitations to such individuals via those email addresses where we have determined that they belong to a PDJ contributor.

We also hold email addresses for non-member contributors whose papers were published by the College rather than the former FGDP (i.e. those appearing in issues from volume 10, issue 2 [Summer 2021] onwards). Unless subsequently updated via online account registration, these are the email addresses used for correspondence with the Managing Editor of the PDJ prior to publication of the relevant paper. We have sent invitations to these contributors using these email addresses.

However, the College may not hold an email address for any PDJ contributor whose paper was published prior to Summer 2021 (i.e. in volumes 1-9 or volume 10 issue 1) and who is not a member, newsletter subscriber or website account holder. We may also not have been able to verify that a particular non-member email address registered through our website belonged to a given PDJ contributor.

If you are a past PDJ contributor but are not sure which issue your paper was published in, please search the online PDJ Library. You do not need to be a member or otherwise logged in to perform a search.

If you were a contributor to an issue of PDJ published by the College but your email address has changed since publication of your paper(s), please let us know at [email protected]

If you are a past PDJ contributor for whom for any reason we may not hold a verified email address, we would love to hear from you, irrespective of whether you wish to attend this particular event – please write to us at [email protected]

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PDJ editor honoured with prestigious international research award

Professor Igor Blum, editor-in-chief of the College’s Primary Dental Journal, has been chosen as this year’s winner of the esteemed International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Ivar Mjör Award.

Professor Igor Blum (right) being presented with the Ivar Mjör Award 2024 by Professor Richard Wierichs, Chair of the IADR Network for Practice-Based Research

Given annually, the award is named in honour of the late President of the IADR, the Norwegian dentist Professor Ivar Mjör, who was a world-renowned researcher and one of the most eminent champions of practice-based dental research in Europe, the US and elsewhere.

The highest award conferred by the IADR for practice-based research, it was given to Professor Blum in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the field, particularly the national and international importance of his translation of practice-based research findings into clinical recommendations.

His impactful publications on the management of failing dental restorations, the reasons for the placement and replacement of direct restorations, and the longevity of posterior composite restorations placed in practice-based settings were among those considered by the selection committee.

Professor Blum coined the term ‘reparative dentistry’, and the citation also notes that his contribution over a quarter of a century to the development, teaching and promotion of the repair of failing yet serviceable dental restorations, as a minimally invasive alternative to replacement, has paved the way for it to become an internationally acknowledged and recognised treatment approach.

Another notable example of his influence are his 2002 standardised diagnostic description criteria for dry socket (alveolar osteitis). ‘Blum’s definition’[i], which is widely referenced in textbooks and presentations and has become the most used definition for dry socket worldwide, has been cited in over 750 journal papers to date.

Professor Blum was also nominated in recognition of his promotion of practice-based clinical, educational and research articles through the Primary Dental Journal (PDJ), in combination with its increased international profile during his tenure as editor. The PDJ is our quarterly, peer-reviewed, professional development journal. Uniquely dedicated to primary dental care, each issue is distributed in print to our UK and international members and subscribers and made available online in over 10,500 academic institutions worldwide.

Professor of Primary Care Dentistry and Advanced General Dental Practice at King’s College London, and a consultant and specialist in restorative dentistry, Professor Blum is only the second UK-based recipient of the Ivar Mjör Award – the first being Professor Sir Nairn Wilson, the PDJ’s inaugural editor.

The award was presented in October in Bern, Switzerland.


[i] Blum IR. Contemporary views on dry socket (alveolar osteitis): a clinical appraisal of standardization, aetiopathogenesis and management: a critical review. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2002 Jun;31(3):309-17. doi: 10.1054/ijom.2002.0263.

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Oral medicine, leadership and TMD – PDJ themes for 2025

The College has announced the themes and guest editors for the 2025 issues (volume 14) of its Primary Dental Journal (PDJ).

(l-r) 2025 PDJ guest editors: Dr Ziad Al-Ani, Dr Emma Hayes and Professor Sreenivas Koka FCGDent

The Spring issue will be a general edition with articles covering a wide range of topics relevant to general dental practice. The 50th issue of the PDJ, it is expected to be published in April.

The Summer issue will be the first to be dedicated to oral medicine. Due out in July, it will be guest-edited by Dr Emma Hayes.

The Autumn issue, devoted to leadership in dentistry, will be guest-edited by Professor Sreenivas Koka FCGDent and will go to press in late September.

The Winter issue will be the first thematic edition of the PDJ to explore temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Guest-edited by Dr Ziad Al-Ani, it will be distributed in December.

Uniquely dedicated to primary dental care, PDJ is the College’s quarterly, peer-reviewed, professional development journal. In partnership with one of the world’s leading journal publishers, each issue is printed and distributed to the College’s UK and international members and subscribers, indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus, and made available online in over 10,500 academic institutions worldwide.

Dr Hayes is a Consultant and Clinical Lead in Oral Medicine at King’s College London Dental Institute, with special interests in facial pain and paediatric oral medicine conditions. After qualifying as a doctor from the University of Oxford in 2008, she worked in the north of England and gained Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. She then studied dentistry on King’s College London’s three-year programme for medical graduates, also working part-time in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Graduating in 2013, she completed specialty training in oral medicine at the Eastman Dental Hospital in 2019. She also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education from University College London and contributed to the 2023 update of the Oral Medicine Specialty Training Curriculum.

Professor Koka is Dean of the University of Mississippi Dental School. In addition to qualifying as a Doctor of Dental Surgery, he holds a Master’s in Prosthodontics from the University of Michigan, an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master’s in Applied Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD from the University of Nebraska. He was the founder and owner of Premium Dental Editing in Rochester, Minnesota, and of both Koka Dental Clinic and the non-profit Career Design in Dentistry in San Diego. He has been a lecturer at the University of Michigan and University of California Los Angeles, and a professor at Loma Linda University, the University of Nebraska and the Mayo Clinic. Author/co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and nine book chapters, he is co-founder of the Future Leaders in Prosthodontics (FLiP) programme and founder of the Shaping the Future of Implant Dentistry (SHIFT) leadership workshop series. Brought up in Romford, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 19 and is one of 16 dentists in his family.

Dr Al-Ani is a Senior Lecturer and Senior Recognised-Excellence-in-Teaching Fellow at the University of Glasgow Dental School, and former professor of Temporomandibular Disorders at the College of Medicine and Dentistry. He graduated BDS and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Damascus, before being awarded an MSc in Prosthodontics and PhD on temporomandibular disorders and occlusion at the University of Manchester. He then became a Clinical Teacher in Restorative Dentistry and Research Co-ordinator for the TMD clinic at Manchester, later obtaining Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. He is a former Director of the International Association for Dental Research’s Prosthodontics Research Group, former member of the editorial board of the Journal of Prosthodontics, and author of the books ‘Temporomandibular Disorders: A Problem-Based Approach’ and ‘Practical Procedures in Dental Occlusion’. 

Submissions will be accepted for the issue on leadership until 7 January 2025 and for the issue on TMD until 7 April 2025. Submissions on any other topic relevant to primary dental care can be made until 7 July 2025 for consideration for the Spring 2026 general issue. Instructions for authors are available here.


Dr Al-Ani’s paper, Whiplash-associated temporomandibular disorders: a review article (PDJ vol. 12, no. 1, March 2023) has been made available for all dental professionals to download free of charge.

He was also author of Temporomandibular Joint Osteoarthrosis: a review of clinical aspects and management (vol. 10, no. 1, March 2021) and Occlusion and Temporomandibular Disorders: a long-standing controversy in dentistry (vol. 9. no. 1, April 2020), and co-author of Occlusion on a single implant-supported crown: any differences? (vol. 11, no. 2, June 2022).

These are available in the online PDJ Library to College members and PDJ subscribers, as is Dr Hayes’ paper, An overview of vesicobullous conditions affecting the oral mucosa, (vol. 5 no. 1, March 2016).

Members can read these articles by logging in via the button below, then clicking ‘Access the PDJ Library’:

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