InDent
A newsletter for Dental Alumni of Guy’s, King’s, and the Royal Dental Hospital | issue 10 | january 2011
Trailblazers in dentistry Alumni news & upcoming events
A new global strategy
Institute news
Welcome to the 2011 issue of InDent. It has been a great pleasure in my 10-year tenure as Dean and Head of the Dental Institute to introduce you to InDent on an annual basis. I anticipate my successor will further develop the relationship between the Institute and its enormously illustrious alumni who, throughout my term of office, have been tremendously supportive and helpful. The Dental Institute continues to evolve and develop itself to meet existing and anticipated future needs. In a time of unprecedented change and many uncertainties, strategic planning is no easy matter, but as you would hope and anticipate in the Institute it is forward-looking and ambitious. The Institute remains one of the top five dental clinical academic centres in the world and has every intention to maintain and wherever possible strengthen this position. The development of King’s Health Partners, let alone the further development of the College – which by any measure is on an upward trajectory and was honoured by The Sunday Times as the 2010-11 University of the Year – provides an outstanding opportunity for the Institute to excel, albeit in the present climate of new challenges, expectations and targets. As never before, the Institute looks to the help and support of its alumni to weather and successfully navigate a period of great change and challenge. If you can be of any assistance to the Institute, over and above whatever help and support you presently extend, please do not hesitate to contact me (email: nairn.wilson@kcl.ac.uk; tel: +44 (0)20 7188 1164). The Institute is most grateful to their alumni for its generosity, engagement and unswerving loyalty. Above all else it would be excellent if alumni could assist the Dental Institute in making an important contribution to the College’s major appeal: World questions|King’s answers. I look forward to meeting up with as many of you as possible, in particular at the 2011 Dental Alumni Weekend (4-5 March) prior to me demitting office as Dean and Head of the Institute sometime during the latter half of 2011. I will greatly miss holding one of the most prestigious and rewarding positions in academic dentistry. Together, however, we still have the time and opportunity to strengthen and develop the legacy for generations to come. Please join me in the next few months in making this ambition a reality. Nairn Wilson
First DPMG students graduate
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uring summer 2010, the Dental Institute celebrated the first-ever graduation of students who had undertaken a three-year programme to study dentistry. The cohort of students of the Dentistry Entry Programme for Medical Graduates (DPMG) had all previously studied medicine and undertook a bespoke programme to accelerate their progress into training in oral and maxillofacial surgery, or oral medicine/oral pathology. King’s is the only dental school in the UK to have such a programme and the students’ success marks another milestone in the many programmes offered at King’s to study dentistry.
Dental Academy opens to visitors
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he new University of Portsmouth Dental Academy opened its doors to visitors and students in September 2010. The £9 million Academy is a new purpose-designed facility to train final-year undergraduate dentists and dental care professionals. It represents the innovative educational partnership between the University of Portsmouth and the Dental Institute. The arrival of 80 fifth-year undergraduates, on a one week in four rotation, marks a significant milestone and the successful culmination of over two years’ preparatory planning. The development also includes state-ofthe-art seminar rooms, clinical skills space and breakout rooms, and will prove to be an excellent hub for CPD education for the whole dental team.
Institute staff honoured taff of the Dental Institute have been honoured with a number of prestigious awards. July 2010 saw Professor Nairn Wilson CBE receive an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Portsmouth; whilst in May Professor Stephen Challacombe (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1968), Vice-Dean of the Dental Institute, received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Athens. The citation recognises his contributions to oral medicine and dental research. Professor Challacombe has also been awarded the Fellowship of King’s (FKC) in recognition of his service to the College and its constituent
Staff contribute to international meeting Dental Institute staff made major contributions to the International Association of Dental Research (IADR) 88th General Session and Exhibition in Barcelona in July 2010. The annual meeting provides opportunities for delegates from around the world to exchange ideas and promote awareness of recent advances in dental, oral and craniofacial research. Tom Lehner (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1968), Professor of Basic and Applied Immunology in the Dental Institute, delivered one of three Distinguished Lectures. The British Society for Oral and Dental Research (BSODR) Graham Embery Memorial Lecture was given by Francis Hughes (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1979), Professor of Periodontology in the Institute. Professor Tim Newton, Head of the Oral Health, Workforce and Education Research Group at the Dental Institute, was appointed President of the Behavioural, Epidemiological and Health Services Research Group (BEHSR) of the IADR. The purpose of BEHSR is to promote and encourage research in the behavioural and social sciences and dental health services.
schools and for his contributions to dental research. Last, but by no means least, Professor Timothy Watson (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1980), Director of Research and Head of the Biomaterials, Biomimetics & Biophotonics Research Group at the Institute, was awarded the Colyer Prize by the Section of Odontology of the Royal Society of Medicine. The prize is awarded for the best original work in dental science completed in the last five years in the United Kingdom. His entry was entitled Towards better diagnosis, better caries removal and better restorations in Operative Dentistry.
Badcock Dental Circle Lecture
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ttended by alumni and friends, the Badcock Dental Circle Lecture, on the subject of pain and new analgesics, was given by Professor Ken Hargreaves of the University of Texas Health Science Center. Professor Hargreaves is an endodontist and pharmacologist whose reputation precedes him as a distinguished clinical scientist leading research into human pain mechanisms. JH Badcock was a consultant surgeon at Guy’s Hospital between 1890 and 1905 who, in 1899, proposed the first degree for dentists. The 2011 Lecture, entitled Prevention is better than cure. Have we got the nerve?, will take place on Tuesday 10 May and will be presented by Tara Renton, Professor of Oral Surgery in the Institute.
Professor Nairn Wilson
Professor in History of Dentistry appointed
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he Dental Institute has recently appointed Stanley Gelbier as Honorary Professor in the History of Dentistry – a first in the UK. The Institute is the ideal place for such a chair having been formed by the merger of three historic dental schools and hospitals. Guy’s Hospital delivered the first dental lectures in 1790 and, founded in 1858, the Royal Dental Hospital was the first hospital and school. In 1860 King’s College Hospital appointed the first professor in dental surgery. The Institute is keen to examine this ancestry, as well as dentistry in general, including the development of the profession, dental practice, equipment and materials. Dentistry of the 20th century will also be studied, with oral histories of leading members of the profession and witness seminars. Practitioners and their staff will be interviewed to ascertain what it was like for them and their patients as the NHS evolved from 1948. The Institute would like alumni to help by joining the new Unit for the History of Dentistry, possibly as honorary research associates and fellows. Please email Stanley Gelbier at stanley.gelbier@kcl.ac.uk, or write to him at the Dental Institute, King’s College London, Floor 18, Tower
Wing, Guy’s Hospital, London, SE1 9RT. The Dean, Professor Nairn Wilson CBE, hopes alumni will generously support the proposed projects. Please contact him on +44 (0)20 7188 1164 or email nairn.wilson@kcl.ac.uk.
£500 million campaign launched Alumni are encouraged to get involved with the Unit for the History of Dentistry
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Dean’s Welcome
With an over-arching goal to improve the lives of people around the world, on 3 November 2010 King’s launched a £500 million campaign, the most ambitious fundraising effort in the university’s 180-year history. The College unveiled this landmark campaign – named World questions|King’s answers – with more than £197 million already received toward the fundraising goal. The campaign, which will end in 2015, focuses on three principal areas – Neuroscience & mental health, Leadership & society and Cancer – but will touch every part of the College in many ways. Within the Cancer theme, for example, head and neck cancer specialists and students will work with Dental Institute staff and students as part of their research activities. In addition, all academic departments across King’s can apply for financial support from the Annual Fund, which is an important component of World questions|King’s answers. For more information about the campaign, please visit www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.
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Alumni news
Student news
Dental Alumni Awards
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t the annual Alumni Dental Dinner in May 2010, Dr Derek Debuse (Royal Dental Hospital, Dentistry, 1966) and Professor Stephen Challacombe (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1968) won, respectively, the Alumnus Distinguished Service Award and the Alumnus of the Year Award. Dr Debuse was honoured for his enormous contribution to the teaching of both conservative dentistry and sedation whilst Professor Challacombe, President of the Dental Alumni Association and Vice-Dean of the Dental Institute, was presented with his award for his outstanding contribution to dental research.
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ore than £1 million has been left to King’s by a former dental student. Diana Trebble (née Jennings), who passed away in 2009, left two-thirds of her estate to the College and her gift will be used to create an open scholarship for postgraduate dental students called the Diana Trebble PhD Scholarship. Diana graduated from King’s as a Licentiate in Dental Surgery in 1953.
Gifts to the Institute provide students with modern equipment and travel opportunities
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lumni, staff, former staff and friends who support the Dental Institute philanthropically directly affect the lives of our dental students. Through the GKT Annual Fund and the Dean’s Discretionary Fund, we are able to provide additional facilities and opportunities to enhance the learning experience of today’s students. Gifts to the Institute in the last 12 months have made it possible to upgrade dental radiography equipment for undergraduate clinical skills and purchase essential equipment for a new salivary and thyroid gland imaging suite. They have provided financial support for students, enabling undergraduates to undertake international electives and postgraduates to travel and present research findings. This is only a snapshot of the projects which have been made possible thanks to donations to the Institute from our alumni and friends.
Dr Derek Debuse, left, and Professor Stephen Challacombe
Doctorate from University of Helsinki Crispian Scully (RDH, Dentistry, 1968), the Dental Institute’s 2008 Alumnus of the Year and past Dean of the Eastman Dental Institute, has received a doctorate from the University of Helsinki, Finland. The honour is the first for a UK dentist. The doctorate is in recognition for Professor Scully’s international leadership in oral medicine, oral pathology and special care dentistry, and his scientific and education contributions. The honour complements international awards from several specialist societies, as well as gold medals, fellowships and doctorates from three other universities and colleges.
Turkish accolade for alumnus Professor Tom Lehner CBE (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1968) has been awarded the Behçet Award for outstanding contribution to the understanding and management of Behçet’s disease from the Society for Research in Rheumatology of
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One-in-amillion gift
Turkey. The clinical manifestations of the disease consist of recurrent ulcers in the mouth and genitals, skin lesions, uveitis leading to blindness, arthritis, neurological and vascular abnormalities. Professor Lehner has contributed to the basic understanding of the cellular immune mechanism of the disease.
Distinguished Scientist Award John Greenspan FKC (RDH, Dentistry, 1963), of the University of California, San Francisco, has been awarded the 2010 American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Distinguished Scientist Award. Presented every two years and supported by GlaxoSmithKline, the award recognises and honours outstanding research of particular significance in any of the fields related to oral science. Professor Greenspan is a distinguished professor of oral pathology in the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry and of pathology in the School of Medicine.
Final year prize winners
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ast summer’s graduation ceremony saw final year BDS students receive a number of prizes awarded for clinical and academic performance and personal achievements. Among the winners were Priya Karia and Roshni Karia who jointly received the A. M. Clover Prize, which is awarded to the students who have best epitomised the Guy’s motto ‘Dare Quam Accipere’ by showing it is better to give than to receive. The Jack Wheatley Carlton Hunter Prize, awarded to the student who has set the highest standard of exemplary conduct in their treatment of patients, was presented to Alexandra Henderson and Siobhan Faughnan. The Jelf Medal, awarded not only for academic proficiency but also a student’s prominence in social and athletic activities, was presented to Priya Malhotra. The Alex Boulger Award was received by Emma Young for her contribution to the sporting life of the Institute and involvement in all aspects of College life.
Dentistry goes musical
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econd-year dental student Tomos Lavery has been finding success outside of the dental arena in not one, but two all-male vocal groups. Eschoir, which was set up on social networking sites and has members from all around the globe, starred in the Channel 5 live television talent show Don’t Stop Believing, hosted by ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton. The show was watched by one million viewers. Tomos says: ‘It was a truly fantastic experience and singing live on national TV sent a huge buzz through the group’. Tomos is also a member of All the King’s Men, an a cappella group established in 2009 by King’s freshers. They have released their eponymous debut album and played consistently sold-out shows at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ‘We had great support from the College, and with fantastic reviews from both reviewers and our
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Supporting the Dental Institute
Tomos Lavery (front row, second from right) and his fellow members of All the King’s Men
The Dental Circle
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special thanks goes to the members of the Dental Circle whose visionary support and generous contribution make an exceptional difference to the Dental Institute. Members of the Dental Circle make gifts of £1,000 or more in an academic year towards the Dean’s Discretionary Fund or the GKT Annual Fund. Circle members receive advance copies of our publications, are awarded special recognition in the College’s annual donor report and are invited to key events on campus, including the Dental Circle Dinner, an evening where the Dean, Professor Nairn Wilson, pays tribute to Circle members’ support. Philanthropic support directly affects the lives of our dental students. The GKT Annual Fund and the Dean’s Discretionary Fund offer additional facilities and opportunities to enhance the learning experience of today’s students. In 2009-10 Circle members enabled students to travel overseas to augment their specialist knowledge and have helped expand the Institute’s innovative approach to online learning.
For more information about the Dental Circle, GKT Annual Fund, Dean’s Discretionary Fund, or giving to the Institute, please contact Helen Nicholson on +44(0)20 7848 4711, or email helen.nicholson@kcl. ac.uk.
audiences, we hope to be back for longer in 2011.’ A video of All the King’s Men is available to view at www.kcl.ac.uk/ikings
Students awarded prosthetic dentistry prizes Two King’s students studying on the MSc in Prosthetic Dentistry at the Dental Institute were awarded national prizes at the annual conference of The British Society for the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry (BSSPD). Vasiliki Vlachogianni (Prosthetic Dentistry, 2009) was awarded joint first prize for her poster presentation on her MSc research project work on the effect of the laser welding parameters on the penetration depth of CobaltChromium alloys. Andreas Artopoulos (Prosthetic Dentistry, 2010) was awarded the BSSPD travelling scholarship which is provided to support applications, to fund travel and costs of living expenses in the course of a research project or further education in prosthetic dentistry. Andreas will use the scholarship to visit the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
January 2011 | InDent | 5
The Dental Institute goes global The Dental Institute is boosting its international profile, enhancing its research, clinical and teaching activities, and strengthening its links with alumni worldwide thanks to a burgeoning external strategy that is bearing fruit. ‘We are already recognised as the premier dental clinical academic centre in the UK, and one of the top five in the world,’ says Professor Stephen Challacombe (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1968), the Institute’s Vice Dean and Director of External Strategy and Development. ‘As part of King’s, we want to be seen as an international leader. To do that, we have to allow our staff and students to gain international experience. Now
we have the external strategy and structure to make that happen.’ The aim of the Institute’s strategy, now formally adopted after several years in development, is to harness international relationships for the benefit of staff and students in each of its mission areas: research, clinical service and teaching. Meanwhile, the Institute has also played a leading role in the development of the larger College external strategy, helping King’s to become a much more internationally recognised university. For the Dental Institute there are four principal areas of external activity: Establishing formal links with selected international dental schools;
COLLEGE-LEVEL PARTNERS Jawaharlal Nehru University Renmin University of China University of Sao Paulo University of North Carolina University of California, San Francisco Hong Kong University National University of Singapore Johns Hopkins University SCHOOL-LEVEL PARTNERS University of Pennsylvania University of Columbia Tohoku University Tokyo Medical and Dental School University of Malta University of Brescia Charles University University of Madrid Rome University Curtin University Adelaide University Thammasat University University of Malaya Brunei Darussalam Peking University International Islamic University Malaysia
Professor Stephen Challacombe, right, and the Dental Institute have a window on the world 6 | InDent | January 2011
Promoting staff/faculty sabbaticals and exchanges; Benefiting from the time and talent of the more than 7,000 alumni worldwide and increasing their association with the Institute; and Expanding student electives and exchange programmes with other universities around the world. ‘We don’t want to be promiscuous,’ says Professor Challacombe. ‘We want to focus on a limited number of targeted, quality partners.’ There are two tiers of partnership. Collegelevel partnerships encompass all of the health schools at King’s: there are currently eight of these, including partnerships with the University of North Carolina, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the National University of Singapore. School-level partnerships are more focused, and typically involve agreements for specific research or teaching purposes. The Institute currently has 16 of these, including agreements with Curtin University in Australia and the University of Malta. ‘The key selection criterion is mutual benefit, so that together we can offer opportunities that neither can offer alone,’ says Professor Challacombe. So, for example, UCSF might offer ‘terrific labs and epidemiology’, he says, while King’s offers strength in immunology and stem cell research. Alternatively, as Curtin and King’s are both leaders in flexible learning, so the Australian university is a natural partner to help the Institute develop further its own pioneering offering in this important area. The partnerships are all timelimited, to ensure that they are
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Forging partnerships with universities around the world, the Institute expands learning and research opportunities
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regularly reviewed and assessed. If no activity results, the partnerships are discontinued. ‘MoUs can be easy to sign, and it can be just as easy for the initial wave of enthusiasm to wane. We want all our partnerships to have something behind them, and we need to work at them, hence the need for focus.’ Providing international sabbaticals is a crucial element of the strategy, says Professor Challacombe. ‘One of the benefits of becoming an academic member of staff should be the opportunity and indeed the expectation that they would go on a sabbatical every three years or so.’ These sabbaticals could last from one to three months, and should also be open to technical, research and management staff, he says. ‘We don’t want to lose our best people. We don’t want them to go elsewhere to further their career or freshen up. We want them to go and learn new techniques, and bring them back; that way the whole organisation gets refreshed.’ Such sabbaticals, particularly for clinical staff, can be difficult to achieve in practice, not least because the necessary cover – and funding
‘The Institute is building an international network of alumni who will look after visiting students.’
on students because they can do clinical work in their own surgeries,’ says Professor Challacombe. ‘We are world leaders in this, and we are now working towards more than 250 students on flexible learning programmes.’ PhD students can also study for joint doctorates, splitting their time and studies between the Institute and international partner schools, taking advantage of areas of particular expertise. This kind of flexibility is attractive in the highly competitive PhD marketplace, and several new PhDs of this kind have recently begun. The Dental Institute is looking to its alumni as never before, says Professor Challacombe. It is working hard to build a structured international network of alumni who will look after visiting students, show them their practices and share their knowledge and experience. ‘Students going abroad now know they have someone to call on for help,’ says Professor Challacombe. ‘And that someone will invariably take them out for dinner from time to time, too.’
for that cover – can be hard to find. But alumni are coming forward with sponsorship to help in this regard, says Professor Challacombe. This is very much a ‘ground up’ initiative, he adds, and it will take time for it to become a fundamental part of staff culture – but it’s already beginning to take root and ‘we’re now seeing plenty of expressions of interest’. The exchange scheme benefits students too: around two-thirds of dental undergraduates now spend time abroad as part of their course. Master’s students worldwide can take advantage of the Institute’s expertise in flexible learning, studying in their own country or practice while engaging with staff electronically, via video conferencing and through other interactive teaching aids. ‘It’s no less intensive for staff, but it’s easier
Global Health In addition to its main external strategy, the Dental Institute is also actively involved in a pioneering global health initiative recently launched by King’s Health Partners (KHP). Global health is an emerging discipline that takes an interdisciplinary, collaborative, transnational approach to improving and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. KHP’s initiative has three themes: education and training; service delivery and capacity building; and research and policy development. KHP already has expertise in all these areas; this initiative allows that expertise to be ‘joined up’, so that previously disparate practitioners can share experience and start to develop a global health community. New Global Health Offices have been set up at the Denmark Hill Campus, and a new King’s BSc in Global Health for medical and dental students, and indeed for all students of King’s College London, was launched in September with 18 in the first cohort. The new Programme Director is Andy Leather, a Consultant Surgeon at King’s College Hospital, who started the King’s/THET ‘country partnership’ in Somaliland. Building on work begun by a simple link between King’s College Hospital and a local maternity hospital in 2000, this partnership has trained
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more than 50 doctors, established a national medical internship programme and developed a new Nurse Tutor Training Course among its many accomplishments.
A King’s student gives a talk on health education during an elective in Africa
Mr Leather stresses that the issue of global health is increasingly becoming part of the global political agenda. ‘Senior politicians are waking up to the fact that global health is important,’ he says. ‘It is almost a stabilising thing – if poor countries have healthier populations they are more likely to prosper. That is in all our interests.’ The Dental Institute has been heavily involved in a global health dental initiative that targets a sharp rise in dental caries in early childhood, making it the most widespread disease among children. The Institute supports the base and the chairman, Professor Raman Bedi, the former Chief Dental Officer for England. The new Global Child Dental Fund is the latest incarnation of the project that over the past five years or so has helped 20 million children. Fourteen countries are now members and more than £25 million in additional dental health resources have been obtained for disadvantaged children. As Professor Challacombe, who sits on the KHP Global Health Steering Committee along with Andy Leather and others, puts it: ‘These kinds of altruistic initiatives fit perfectly with the mottos of both King’s and Guy’s: “In the service of society” and “It is better to give than to receive”.’
Trailblazers in dentistry Remembering three giants in the history of British dentistry
Thomas Bell FRS (1792-1880) Thomas Bell was the second Dental Surgeon to be engaged by Guy’s, succeeding the first, Joseph Fox, in 1817. A classic 19thcentury polymath, his research as a keen natural historian led him subsequently to become Professor of Zoology at King’s. He also became an FRS, a secretary of the Royal Society, and President of both the Ray and Linnean Societies. Bell was a skilful writer too, and his book British Stalked-eye Crustacea, modestly described by him as a ‘little work’, was a model of its kind. All this while continuing to hold his dental lectureship at Guy’s. But history perhaps remembers him best for his contribution to the work of Charles Darwin, taking on the task of describing the reptiles collected on the Beagle expedition and playing a significant part in the inception of the theory of natural selection by confirming that the giant Galápagos tortoises were native to the islands – not brought in by buccaneers for food as Darwin had thought. He was a friend to Darwin too, writing cheerfully to congratulate him on his impending marriage in 1838: ‘I know how happy you must be as a married man, if your wife be as calculated to make you so as you are to confer happiness on her.’
Thomas Bell, below, was Dental Surgeon at Guy’s and helped confirm the theory of natural selection
Charles Edward Wallis (1869-1927)
Sir Edwin Saunders (1814-1901)
Dubbed the ‘father’ of London’s dental service for schoolchildren, Charles Edward Wallis had a lifetime acquaintance with King’s College Hospital. He trained there before going to sea as a ship’s surgeon, travelling as far as Antarctica. He returned in 1899, first as assistant, then Dental Surgeon and Lecturer. When King’s established its dental school, Wallis acted as consulting adviser to Dr Alexander Livingstone, first Subdean for Dental Studies. He died there in 1927; two years later his brother Ferdinand endowed the CE Wallis Prize in Preventative Dentistry. Wallis’s prime interest was the teeth of children, he wrote and lectured on the subject widely, and became assistant Dental Surgeon to the Victoria Hospital for Children. He was a key figure in the development by the London County Council (LCC) of the largest dental school service in the country – the need for which became shockingly clear at the outbreak of the Boer War, when half of adult males were found to be unfit for military service, many for dental reasons. Even some of those passed fit were clearly in a poor state: one regiment suffered so badly from gastric trouble due to poorly chewed food that they resorted to using mincing machines. In 1905 Wallis was appointed Assistant Medical Officer to the LCC, and started systematically examining the mouths of local children. It proved to be a horrific exercise: oral and associated diseases were widespread. Eventually, by working with the LCC’s sympathetic Medical Officer, James Kerr, and backed by pressure from the School Dentist‘s Society and British Dental Association, he induced the council to first finance experimental dental centres, and finally to set up clinics of their own.
Sir Edwin Saunders was a major player in the development of the London School of Dental Surgery in Soho Square: ‘a necessity for providing the dental student with an adequate training, which up to that time he had had to acquire in a haphazard fashion as a private pupil’, as his obituary in the British Medical Journal put it. He also helped find and finance the school’s new site in Leicester Square, and later, when it needed to be extended, he bought the house next door, partly rebuilt it, and then donated it. Sir Edwin started his working life as an inventor, devising ‘several things which, although they failed to come into use, indicated ingenuity and capacity in that direction’. He turned to dentistry instead and made rapid progress. He became a Member of the College of Surgeons and was appointed Dental Surgeon to and Lecturer at St Thomas’ in 1839. He was appointed to the Court in 1846, becoming Surgeon-Dentist to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and was knighted in 1882 – ‘the first dental surgeon to receive the honour’. Other high-profile clients included Florence Nightingale, who once asked for an appointment by saying: ‘I have broken four of my teeth lately – probably with gnashing my teeth at ministers.’ Sir Edwin was twice president of the Odontological Society – and indeed the meeting which instituted the society was held in his house. ‘A recognised head of his profession’, he was ‘the first dental surgeon to occupy a position of special distinction in the British Medical Association’ and was ‘one of the last surviving members of the band who worked so successfully for the placing of their profession upon a more satisfactory basis,’ wrote the BMJ. January 2011 | InDent |9
Research news
New device removes drill noise
Pioneering salivary stone techniques
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n innovative new device that selectively cancels out the noise of the dental drill is the brainchild of Brian Millar, Professor of Blended Learning at the Dental Institute. The device can be plugged in to patients’ iPods, allowing them to listen to their music on their headphones. They can also hear the dentist and nurse, but not the sound of the drill or suction. Not surprisingly, it has proved hugely popular in trials. ‘Patients absolutely love it,’ says Professor Millar. Research shows that the sound of the drill is the prime cause of anxiety about dental treatment, so much so that patients may avoid oral healthcare as a result. The new device works in a similar way to Bose noise-cancelling headphones. It contains a microphone and a chip that analyses the incoming sound wave, and produces an inverted wave that cancels out the unwanted noise. This on its own wouldn’t be enough, though, so the device also uses another smart technology called adaptive filtering. Professor Millar first came up with the idea about 20 years ago after reading an article about carmaker Lotus’ efforts to develop a system that removed unpleasant road noise, while still allowing drivers to hear emergency sirens. He immediately saw the possibilities for dentistry and teamed up with acoustic engineers at London South Bank University to investigate. However, in those days the computing power required
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Professor Mark McGurk, left, and Dr Michael Escudier
Professor Brian Millar wants to reduce the anxiety of patients who can’t tolerate the sound of a dental drill
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and level of expertise that isn’t found elsewhere in the NHS. That is reflected by the fact that patients are referred from so far away for treatment here. Other centres prefer to send their patients to us as we deal with salivary stones on such a regular basis, whereas they only come across it from time to time.’ Dr Michael Escudier (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1985), Consultant in Oral Medicine, reports that the clinic is now seeing approximately 600 patients a year for the various forms of treatment and our results show that 80 per cent of stones can be successfully treated this way. Currently the Dental Institute at Guy’s Hospital is the only centre in the UK offering this treatment. The work of the Institute’s team was recently featured in the Daily Mail, which told the story of Seanne Brearley, whose salivary stone problem baffled her GP and dentist for 18 months before being finally diagnosed by an ear, nose and throat specialist. Her stone, which measured 4 millimetres, was removed by the Guy’s Hospital team under local anesthetic in a painless procedure that required no stitches. After the operation, she was advised to eat as much flavourful food as possible to stimulate saliva in the previously blocked duct, so she went out for a curry. ‘When I had that first mouthful, it was an incredible moment. There was no swelling or throbbing pain. Just a slight ache from the operation,’ she said. ‘It only took two days for my mouth to feel back to normal and since then I’ve not had a problem. Now, I enjoy food even more knowing what a burden having an appetising meal used to be.’
to calculate the inverse waves wasn’t available, so they shelved the project. When they revisited the idea seven years ago, they found that technology had developed sufficiently for it to be viable, and this device is the result. The technology was developed as a PhD project by Erkan Kaymak at Brunel University’s School of Engineering and Design, supervised by Professor Millar, Kenneth Rotter at Brunel, and Mark Atherton at the Department of Engineering Systems at London South Bank University. The prototype is about the size of a shoebox, but could be reduced with further development to the dimensions of a mobile phone, says Professor Millar. It could then easily sit on a bracket table. Patients with an iPod or similar music player would simply unplug their headphones, plug the device into the iPod, and then the headphones into the device. This has the double benefit of allowing them to listen to their own choice of music while using their own headphones, so removing the risk of cross-infection. Professor Millar is surprised that nobody has snapped the device up yet, but he still has high hopes that an investor or electronics company will come along soon. ‘I won’t go on Dragons Den, but it’s almost at that stage,’ he says. Similarly, it has had remarkably little media attention to date, although Professor Millar has discussed it on Radio 4. But with a device as brilliantly simple and transparently desirable as this, surely that attention and investment can only be a matter of time.
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K
ing’s College London Dental Institute at Guy’s Hospital is leading the NHS in pioneering new acoustic shockwave techniques to tackle the increasingly recognised problem of salivary stones. Salivary stones can be as large as three centimetres in diameter and form in ducts leading into the mouth where they obstruct the normal flow of saliva. At mealtimes extra saliva is produced which becomes stuck causing significant swelling around the glands and pain. If the problem is left untreated for long periods the backed-up saliva can become infected. No one fully understands why the stones form, only that they are made from calcium and the other minerals that are found in saliva. Awareness of the problem is not widespread, so sufferers often go undiagnosed or have limited treatment options at their nearest hospital. The traditional treatment involved an invasive operation under general anaesthetic in which a surgeon would cut through the cheek and open the gland or duct to remove the stone or, frequently, the whole gland. As well as being uncomfortable for the patient, and causing scarring, it also carried a significant risk of damaging important nerves that give the face its movement and expression. The Dental Institute’s expert team is now offering a range of techniques that include breaking up the stones using controlled acoustic shockwaves, collecting the stones using miniature forceps or baskets that are passed down the salivary duct, and finally minimally invasive controlled surgery. The team has grouped the talents of an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, a radiologist and an expert in oral medicine and lithotripsy to tackle this problem together. The work has been so successful that patients now travel from as far away as Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Wales and Scotland for their care. Professor Mark McGurk, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, says: ‘We started specialising in this area 12 years ago, collaborating with partners in Europe, and have now built up a knowledge
January 2011 | InDent |11
Events & Reunions
Events Dental Alumni Weekend
Campus; Annual Dental Dinner at the Hilton Hotel, Tower Bridge; Clinical Day at New Hunt’s House, Guy’s Campus Details: Dental Alumni Weekend brings together professional development and social opportunities for alumni and friends. This year it will include an afternoon for hygienists and therapists, continuing professional development meetings for specialists and those interested in endodontics, prosthodontics and orthodontics. The Annual Dental Dinner will be on Friday evening, followed by the popular Clinical Day on Saturday. The full programme can be found in the Dental Alumni Weekend brochure or online at www.alumni.kcl.ac.uk/dental2011. Dental Alumni Association & Elections Date: Saturday 5 March 2011 Venue: Lecture Theatre 2,
New Hunt’s House, Guy’s Campus Time: 12.00 – 12.30 Contact +44 (0)20 7848 3053, alumoff@kcl.ac.uk Details: This year’s Annual General Meeting and elections will take place at 12.00 on Clinical Day, 5 March. For details of positions up for nomination, please contact Nigel Fisher (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1975), Association Secretary, c/o Alumni Office, Ground Floor Office, Strand Bridge House, 138 – 142 The Strand, London WC2R 1HH. Email: nigel.fisher@kcl.ac.uk Badcock Dental Circle Lecture Date: Tuesday 10 May 2011 Venue: Guy’s Campus Details: This year’s Badcock
Dental Circle Lecture will be given by Tara Renton, Professor of Oral Surgery at King’s College Hospital. The lecture will take place at Guy’s Campus on Tuesday 10 May 2011 at 18.00, followed by a reception. For further information please contact Helen Nicolson on +44 (0)20 7848 4711.
dominic turner
Date: 4-5 March 2011 Venue: Specialist afternoons at Guy’s
Alumni Weekend 2011 Date: 11-12 June 2011 Details: King’s annual Alumni
Weekend is an event for alumni from all graduation years, Schools and subject areas. The weekend offers a wide range of academic lectures, tours and entertainment. The Principal will host a reunion lunch on Saturday and we especially encourage those celebrating their 50 and 25 years since graduation to join us. For more information, please visit www.alumni.kcl.ac.uk/ alumniweekend2011 or contact Cally Brown at cally.brown@kcl.ac.uk
Reunions RDH Alumni Reunion Luncheon
The 2010 luncheon was held on Saturday 16 October at the Radisson Royal Hampshire Hotel, London (the site of the old Royal Dental Hospital). Please contact Peter Frost (RDH, Dentistry, 1969), Co-ordinator for the RDH Alumni Association, for details of the next reunion. pfdrymouth@googlemail. com Guy’s Dentistry – intake 1965
‘I’m delighted to report that our recent five yearly
Guests enjoy a reception following the 2010 Badcock Dental Circle Lecture
reunion celebrating 45 years since we first met as innocent freshers was its customary success,’ writes David Davidson (Guy’s, Dentistry, 1969). ‘A golf competition on the Saturday morning proved popular as did the roof top bar for informal drinks prior to the dinner. It was reassuring that the conversations confirmed that replacing full-time dentistry with alternative interests as retirement beckoned was not proving difficult, international travel and alternative studies being the most popular choices. Although as a group we plan to continue meeting every five years quite a number have decided to maintain closer links.’ Guy’s Dental 40th Reunion
Did you qualify December 1970, January or July 71? Then please join us for drinks and light refreshments Saturday 5 March, in Robens Suite in Guy’s Tower, from 12.30 to approximately 16.30. For more information please contact Russell Leeburn, leeburn@ uwclub.net or Pam Mainwaring, pam.mainwaring@zen.co.uk Organising a reunion?
The King’s Alumni Office currently supports approximately 30 alumniled reunions every year. Reunions can take many formats, so you can pick one that suits your group. To learn how we can make planning a reunion easier, visit www.alumni.kcl. ac.uk/alumnireunion
InDent editorial team Louise King, Publications Officer, Dental Institute, louise.king@kcl.ac.uk | Amanda Calberry, Development Communications Assistant, amanda.calberry@kcl.ac.uk | James Bressor, Development Communications Manager, james.bressor@kcl.ac.uk Designed by Esterson Associates Tel +44 (0)20 7684 6500
12 | InDent | January 2011