InDent January 2013

InDent

A newsletter for Dental Alumni of Guy’s, King’s COLLEGE and the Royal Dental Hospitals | issue 12 | january 2013

The SMILE Society: Teaching kids about dental care Caring for Olympians’ teeth Detecting diabetes

Dianne Rekow’s greeting

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elcome to the 2013 issue of InDent.

Each year brings more and more exciting news to share with you as the Dental Institute continues to make important contributions to the profession, research advances, patient care – and the education and growth of our student body. Among the many things you’ll discover in this issue is the remarkable effort of the student-led SMILE Society, where students themselves bring the importance of dentistry and oral health to London school children. Doing so, they also impart the excitement of dentistry, becoming great ambassadors and engaging young students to think about dentistry as a profession.

This year we began broadening our reach, attracting students from beyond the schools which typically are our sources of applicants. Because many come from families that are not aware of the pressures of pursuing a professional degree, we’re providing special support to facilitate the successful progress of these students through the entire BDS curriculum.

Our students, staff and alumni were actively engaged in the Summer Olympics. The success of the Games and the energy they created in London reflect the commitment and contributions of a host of volunteers.

Our world continues its dynamic journey of changes in the NHS and scientific breakthroughs. We have promising breakthroughs in cancer detection and improved treatment. We are exploring ways to engage dentists in early detection of diabetes. We’ve recruited new investigators to complement our already strong research prowess and continue to recruit clinicians who add realworld insight into the curriculum and day-to-day teaching.

Your insight and contributions are critically important to our success. I’m pleased to introduce you to Richard Guyver, a member of our Dental Circle, on page 8. The Dental Circle engages exceptional donors as advisors, providing both intellectual and financial resources to the Dental Institute, contributing to our advancement. Their contribution – and yours – is vital to our future. Working together, we continually strengthen our position as the leading dental institute in the world with all the remarkable ways it can impact education, research, patient care and student life.

I look forward to greeting you and sharing the excitement of the Institute at the many events we’ve planned.

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The Institute reaches out to new schools, new students A new programme seeks to identify prospective students in secondary school and help them make the transition into university life

The Dental Institute is reaching out to young students through an innovative programme that will provide additional support for up to 20 undergraduates into a course of study they might not otherwise have considered, or be able to pursue.

The Enhanced Support Dentistry Programme (ESDP) connects the Dental Institute with schools in the London region that typically have sent few, if any, pupils to train as doctors or dentists.

‘It is so important we try to capture those who would make great dentists but had never considered it, because it had never been on their radar. Not everyone we meet and encourage will apply, but we want to show them what is possible and support them as needed, if they do,’ says Professor Mark Woolford, Director of Education.

The ESDP is effectively the standard five-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programme with significant additional support,

We want to show them what is possible and support them if they apply

Greg Funnell Greg Funnell

both before and after entry. Entry requirements are similar to those for a standard BDS: applicants need to obtain three A-levels and a fourth AS, and they are required to sit the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT).

They will be interviewed with all other students.

The Institute is offering up to 20 places in this new programme for widening participation, with an

emphasis on attracting students from schools linked to King’s. The Dental Institute will seek to identify potential candidates in Year 11 and provide support through the subsequent two years. Work experience will be arranged for these pupils and guidance provided as they prepare for the UKCAT, normally taken at the end of Year 12.

Any offer to study dentistry on the programme will be conditional on an applicant achieving A-level results in the range AAA/A to BBB/C – similar to that required for the standard BDS programme. All the students will be academically able and entry to this programme will be competitive.

On entry to the programme, students will be part of the regular Year 1 cohort. Each will have a personal academic tutor who will be aware of the student’s specific educational and support needs.

Tutors will monitor the progress of their students, arrange weekly meetings to discover specific

Extra support and weekly meetings with tutors are part of the new widening participation programme; left, Professor Mark Woolford

challenges, liaise with the Year 1 teachers and organise additional teaching support outside normal presentations.

‘The aim is to ensure that students on this programme are part of the standard five-year BDS cohort and are able to participate in the full range of university activities offered

by King’s,’ says Professor Dianne Rekow, Dean of the Dental Institute.

‘Support will be available in the background to allow them to succeed to the very best of their abilities.

To help students realise their dreams, it is also important to facilitate the progress of these students before they begin the programme and they are still at secondary school.’

Additional help will be available to these students during their following years at the Institute, but as they settle into university life and establish themselves less direct support will probably be necessary. However, support will be available until the day they graduate, with everyone else.

January 2013| InDent | 3

Tooth decay is one of the most common health problems in the UK, affecting most people at some stage in their lives. According to NHS statistics, around 31 per cent of adults currently have untreated tooth decay, while more than three in 10 children are already displaying signs of tooth decay when they start school. As every dentists knows, decay causes toothache, can make it difficult to eat, speak and socialise, and can eventually lead to gum diseases and abscesses.

Simple measures can make a big difference, and it’s important to establish good habits early on.

‘We know that getting children into proper brushing habits – brushing twice a day, using a good fluoride toothpaste and spitting rather than rinsing – can reduce decay,’ says Dr Jenny Gallagher, reader in Oral Health Services Research. ‘So can cutting back on sugary foods and drinks. Those are precisely the kind of simple, accessible, achievable health messages that the SMILE Society is taking out into the local community.’

Dental students Louise Brownlow and Zara Nortley revived the SMILE Society (see box) with the aim of promoting better oral health in the local area. This year’s presidents, Shivani Rana and Pavan Devgun, are co-ordinating a wide range of activities, from working with medical colleagues in Evelina Children’s Hospital to attending community events such as the Lambeth Show to running workshops at children’s centres and schools. They are also looking to launch a new strand of activities, raising awareness of, and funding for, mouth cancer.

‘The emphasis is very much on good oral health as part of a healthy lifestyle,’ explains Dr Gallagher, who oversees the society’s activities.

‘We try to build up relationships with staff and parents, so that the learning is being reinforced at school and at home. Some parents don’t realise how much hidden sugar there is in a lot of food and drink, for example, so we teach them about food labelling.

For those with younger children, we can give advice on breastfeeding and weaning, and how – and when – to

Behind the fun and games lies a serious purpose

access dental care.’ Sponsors provide free toothbrushes and toothpaste for families to take home with them.

The students go to great lengths to make sure the children’s centre sessions are as entertaining and engaging as possible. ‘We try to make it fun,’ says Siobhan Faughnan, a dentist based at King’s College Hospital, who works with SMILE Society students when they go out into schools. ‘With very young children, we run story-telling sessions and get them to dress up as dentists.

We’ll hold up pictures of different foods and get them to jump up and down if it’s a food that’s good for their teeth and crouch down if it’s bad.’

Behind the fun and games lies a serious purpose. ‘One manager of a children’s centre asked us to come in,’ says Faughnan. ‘She had one or two children with bad decay on nearly all their teeth. They were missing school, and when they did come in they wouldn’t speak because they didn’t want to open their mouths. If we can educate children like that, and their parents, at least their second set of teeth will stand a chance.’

Something to SMILE about The Dental Institute’s SMILE Society is helping bridge the gap between dental students and the community – to the benefit of everyone involved

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Two King’s dental students helped re-launch the SMILE Society and shape its work

Members of this year’s SMILE Society, from left: Neelam Rathod, Pippa Saul-Harrah, Rijula Karanjkar, Shivani Rana, Nicola Wade, Francesca Laxton, Carissa Wright, Aaron Gurmail, Pavan Devgun

Although the SMILE Society had been established some years before they arrived at King’s, it was not until Louise Brownlow and Zara Nortley – now in their fifth year – gave it a kickstart that the society really began to have an impact.

‘We were both keen to do some volunteer work and get out into the community,’ says Brownlow. ‘Lambeth is a place where we felt we could make a real difference. So we set out to bring SMILE back to life, with a new group of people and some fresh ideas.’

Currently, the society has around 120 members. Each year, an introductory lecture gives new recruits an overview and insight into public health issues.

‘I feel very strongly that students should be aware of what’s going on out there in the community, and engage with the people who they’re being trained to treat,’ says Brownlow.

For Nortley, who hopes to specialise in orthodontics, running workshops is SMILE’s most rewarding aspect.

‘It’s fascinating to see how interested the children are in their own dental

development,’ she says. ‘And when we work with adults, it’s great to know that you’ve made a positive difference to someone’s views about dentists and dental care.’

Both agree that being part of the society has enriched their student experience. ‘I’ve learned a lot from running the society,’ says Brownlow, ‘like how to set up and manage a committee and how to organise events.

I’ve also learned a lot about public health and made some valuable contacts that will hopefully enhance my career opportunities in the future.’

For Nortley too it’s been a valuable learning experience. ‘It’s easy to think of paediatric patients as small adults,’ she says. ‘What this has taught me is that children’s minds work so differently, you have to find different ways to get your message across. For future clinicians, this is a great way to develop essential communication and patient management skills. Lastly, with competition for postgrad places and jobs so high, you can never have too many strings to your bow!’

Suki Dhanda

While serving local residents, students are honing important skills for their careers, such as their ability to communicate clearly and dealing with people. The students also act as positive role models, helping raise awareness and, perhaps, debunk a few myths about dentistry as a profession. ‘It’s a way of saying to people, “I’m not just in this to make money, I really care about people’s health”,’ says Dr Gallagher.

While individual events and initiatives are essential to the society’s mission, they’re part of a bigger picture. ‘We work hard to align SMILE Society activities with the local oral health promotion strategy for Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark,’ says Dr Gallagher.

‘We’re thinking long-term. For example, we’re currently working with the Mayor’s office, Lambeth Council, Lambeth Primary Care Trust and Well London to scope out a project that will target designated housing estates in the area.

We think that kind of collaborative working is the best way to achieve lasting impact.’

January 2013 | InDent | 5

Tending to smiles seen around the world Jason Niggli helped provide much-needed dental care at the Olympic Village Like millions of his fellow Britons, Jason Niggli was enthralled and inspired by the London Olympics and Paralympics. Unlike most people watching the Games, however, he was working 60, 70 and even 80 hours a week at the Olympic Village in Stratford, caring for athletes with dental needs.

Niggli, a 2000 graduate of the Dental Institute, volunteered to serve as Clinical Lead for dental services at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, providing overall administrative oversight while also working on athletes’ teeth. During the two-week Olympic Games, the 110-member dental staff recorded more than 2,000 patient contacts; during the Paralympics, the number topped 1,000.

‘We wanted to beat Beijing, which we did. We saw more patients,’ he says.

Niggli is an associate at a Harley Street practice and is also a senior tutor at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

He had never volunteered to work at a sporting event prior to the 2012 London Games. He terms the experience unforgettable, particularly as the Games were held in his hometown.

Dental care in the Olympic Village’s £23 million polyclinic was available daily from 6.00 to 23.00.

Two of the most common services were providing routine checkups and making mouth guards. For many athletes from poor nations, the free service offered much-needed care.

Niggli says he and his colleagues met several athletes who had last visited a dentist during the 2008 Games in Beijing.

Niggli says the dental staff made more than 230 bespoke, highly durable mouth guards, meeting all 6 | InDent | January 2013

International Olympic Committee standards. Again, for athletes from poor nations, this was an essential service, underscored by one boxing team arriving without any mouth guards at all.

Dental staff also tended to several serious injuries, including fractured teeth and one fractured mandible.

While the dental staff saw more patients during the Olympic Games, Niggli says the needs of Paralympians were more varied, largely because they tended to be older than Olympians.

Another notable difference between the two Games – at least for dental and medical staff – was how athletes from different nations eyed one another. During the Olympics, while athletes in the waiting room were cordial toward those from other nations, there was a sense of tension just beneath the surface, says Niggli.

During the Paralympics, however, ‘there was more camaraderie among the athletes of different nations’.

Despite the long hours, Niggli says he and his colleagues could feel ‘the buzz and sheer energy’ around them. They also had the chance to see a few events. ‘I got to see the opening ceremonies, which was mindblowing. It was an incredibly proud moment,’ he says.

On a personal level, having lived in Whitechapel or East London for the past 16 years, Niggli says the Games have regenerated the region, most importantly by infusing by a positive attitude in local residents.

His own Olympic legacy is an interest in possibly volunteering for a future international sporting event.

Was there a downside to the experience?

‘I hated wearing the Games volunteer uniform,’ says Niggli.

‘I looked like a Ribena Berry.’

Jason Niggli in his Harley Street practice

We wanted to beat Beijing, which we did

Staff and students help make the Games unforgettable

Alumnus Jason Niggli wasn’t the only member of the Dental Institute community working at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Others at the Games included: Tunmise Awojobi, a tutor and PhD student, volunteered as both a London Ambassador, ensuring that the public got the most out of the Games and the city itself, and as a Games Maker, part of the medical team based in the polyclinic.

‘There was such a buzz in the village and even though we generally had quite long shifts, the adrenaline rush carried us through,’ she says. ‘Everyone was friendly and you could see the genuine gratitude in the faces of the athletes.

Even out and about in London, it just felt so different. I loved every minute of it.’

Like Awojobi, Uzma Qureshi, a thirdyear dental student, volunteered as a London Ambassador. ‘I was based in Trafalgar Square and my role included giving out information regarding the Olympics and what to do in London in general. Each day was different and some of the questions were so unexpected, like “Where can I buy a casserole dish?” The atmosphere was amazing. Even when I was walking round in my uniform before or after shifts, I’d get people saying thank you for helping and volunteering.’

Michael Thomas, a part-time teacher at the Dental Institute, was selected as a dentist at the polyclinic in Portland for the Paralympic sailing events.

‘I turned up to my first shift ready to do whatever was asked of me. At the end of the day, I had extracted a couple of teeth, repaired a couple of fractured cusps and sorted out some marginal gingivitis.’

‘The atmosphere in the village was amazing,’ Thomas adds. ‘It was a perfect dental venue as everyone was smiling! There was a true sense of camaraderie and of working together for a common purpose. There was a real mix of people, from different ages and walks of life, with a feeling of being part of something big.’

‘Legacy’ was one of the buzzwords of the Games, but to Awojobi it is more personal than the sustainability of the Olympic site or the promotion of sports in schools. ‘As clichéd as this is, I could not miss this once-in a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the Games.’

January 2013 | InDent | 7

Karen Robinson

From extracting teeth to helping visitors find casserole dishes, these volunteers happily pitched in

‘It was always my aim to give back’ Richard Guyver graduated from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Dental Institute in 2000 and lives today on Hayling Island, Hampshire.

He has practices in Emsworth and Chichester, and is a member of the Dental Circle

What are your memories of the Dental Institute and how was your transition from university to practice?

Guy’s created a good foundation.

Compared to other dental schools, the hands-on experience was much greater. We seemed to have a lot of knowledge that peers from other institutions had missed. We had a very good foundation for getting out there and seeing patients, which we could build upon.

I had two years of hospital experience, a year at Guy’s in Maxillofacial Surgery and then I did a year at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. That gave me extra confidence in my clinical skills.

When I did start in practice, I used that experience to be able to spend time developing relationships with patients. The key to a successful practice is relationship-building.

Obviously, the clinical side of things is expected, but it is the patient’s trust which makes it successful.

What inspired you to give to King’s through the Dental Circle?

I’ve got to a point in my career where things are comfortable. I have two practices, which give me income, and a big part of that is because of my experience as an undergraduate at Guy’s.

It was always my aim to give back, as there are a lot of people out there who’ve got the knowledge and enthusiasm to pursue dentistry, 8 | InDent | January 2013

but they haven’t got the financial support. Graduates start their career in dentistry with years of debt from university, so monetary concerns are a major barrier to some people.

I’m happy and keen to support students financially against these obstacles to studying, and that was my main reason for becoming a Dental Circle member.

Richard Guyver, right

Are there professors you remember particularly from your student days?

The staff and technicians in the Prosthodontics Department were people you were happy to be friends with as well as colleagues. I remember Dr David Radford and Dr Lyndon Cabot as being really approachable.

I got on well with them in a clinical environment, but I could also talk to them on a personal level.

Dr Mark Ide in the Periodontal Department was my tutor in the second year. I found him very approachable and to this day I’m in email contact with him.

Twice a year, Dental Circle members meet with and advise the Dean on the direction of the Dental Institute; what are the benefits of this process?

Everyone’s got different experiences, and we can call on those backgrounds to find out a particular cause that can be helped, and whether there are barriers or roadblocks that mean it’s not going to work. This way we can identify and eliminate any problems before they occur.

How have you stayed in touch with your fellow alumni?

And then there’s the way alumni can mentor students, sharing their career experiences, such as the business knowledge required to run a practice.

That’s a very hard subject to teach to people in a lecture theatre or tutorial. It can be done, but it’s most effectively taught by people who’ve already been there, who can draw on their experiences working with others. Fortunately, most dentists who go into practice work as an associate initially, so they’ll learn from someone who’s already there, but it does mean bad habits as well as good.

It needs to be part of the curriculum for everyone, but it needs to be taught in such a way that creates value in the tuition process – and that’s a challenge.

Monetary concerns are a barrier to some people

I’ve got a close circle of friends who see each other regularly, and I use Facebook about every six months!

The dental world is so small that it’s quite hard to go to a dental event and not bump into someone.

For more information on supporting students or the Dental Circle, please contact Hannah Lloyd, email hannah.1.lloyd@kcl.ac.uk, or telephone +44 ( 0)20 7848 4241.

Connect with f ellow alumni at www.facebook.com/KCLalumni

Joakim Blockstrom

January 2013| InDent | 9

Institute news

Proving Turing’s tiger stripe theory

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esearchers from King’s have provided the first experimental evidence confirming a great British mathematician’s theory of how biological patterns such as tiger stripes or leopard spots are formed.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council and published online in Nature Genetics, not only demonstrates a mechanism which is likely to be widely relevant in vertebrate development, but also provides evidence that chemicals called morphogens, which control these patterns, can be used in regenerative medicine to differentiate stem cells into tissue.

The findings provide evidence to support a theory first suggested in the 1950s by famous code-breaker Alan Turing. He posited that regular repeating patterns in biological systems are generated by a pair of morphogens that work together as an ‘activator’ and ‘inhibitor’.

To test the theory, researchers studied the development of the regularly spaced ridges found in the roof of the mouth in mice. Carrying

Regularly spaced structures, such as stripes on a tiger or zebrafish, are a fundamental motif in biology

out experiments in mouse embryos, the team identified the pair of morphogens working together to influence where each ridge will be formed. These chemicals controlled each other’s expression, activating and inhibiting production and thereby controlling the generation of the ridge pattern.

Researchers identified the specific morphogens involved in this process: FGF (Fibroblast Growth Factor) and Shh (Sonic Hedgehog, so-called because laboratory fruit flies lacking the fly version have extra bristles on their bodies). They showed that when these morphogens’ activity is increased or decreased, the pattern of the ridges in the mouth palate is affected in ways predicted by Turing. For the first time, the actual morphogens involved in this process have been identified and the team saw the effects as Turing predicted.

‘Regularly spaced structures, from vertebrae and hair follicles to the stripes on a tiger or zebrafish, are a fundamental motif in biology,’ says Dr Jeremy Green of the Dental Institute’s Department of Craniofacial

Development & Stem Cell Biology.

‘There are several theories about how patterns in nature are formed, but until now there was only circumstantial evidence for Turing’s mechanism. Our study provides the first experimental identification of an activator-inhibitor system at work in the generation of stripes – in this case, in the ridges of the mouth palate.’

Dr Green notes that although ridges in the mouth are important in feeling and tasting food, they’re not of great medical significance – but they have proven extremely valuable in validating the activator-inhibitor model first put forward by Turing.

‘Not only does this show us how patterns such as stripes are formed, but it provides confidence that these morphogens can be used in future regenerative medicine to regenerate structure and pattern when differentiating stem cells into other tissues,’ he says. ‘As this year marks Turing’s centenary, it is a fitting tribute to this great mathematician and computer scientist that we should now be able to prove that his theory was right all along!’

In brief Portsmouth Dental Academy scoops local award In September, the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy, a joint venture between the Institute and the University of Portsmouth, was awarded ‘Dental Practice of the Year’ by Portsmouth’s local newspaper, The News. Nominations for the ‘Best of Health’ award were plentiful and accolades for the Academy included ‘perfect service’, ‘warm and friendly’, ‘efficient’, ‘polite’ and ‘helpful’.

Norwood Hall: collaboration and community Norwood Hall, the West Norwood Neighbourhood Resource Centre, is to be a south London-based state-of-the-art centre for dentistry,

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Accolades for senior lecturer

medicine and leisure. Due for completion in 2014, the centre is the product of a successful collaboration between King’s College London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Lambeth Care Commissioning Group.

The Dean of the Dental Institute, Professor Dianne Rekow, says that the centre will ‘highlight the strong linkages between physical condition and health, and the proximity between medical and dental services reinforces the importance of oral health to overall health’.

Norwood Hall, left, will bring dentistry, medicine and leisure actitivies under one roof

Dr Michael Escudier, senior lecturer in oral medicine, was named a College Teaching Fellow in July.

King’s awards these fellowships annually in recognition of excellence in three areas: individual excellence, raising the profile of excellence and developing excellence. Dr Escudier was further honoured in October when the Association for Dental Education in Europe presented him with its ‘Excellence in Dental Education Award’.

‘Michael thoroughly deserves this award as it is international recognition of his work,’ says Professor Mark Woolford, Director of Education.

‘This is further recognition, also, of the fantastic teachers and teaching available to the students at the Dental Institute, something that was mentioned time and time again in the National Student Survey.’

Student news

Musical success for dental student

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arch 2012 saw King’s student group All the King’s Men win the Voice Festival UK a cappella finals, resulting in an invitation to compete in the New York finals against all the top collegiate USA a cappella groups in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.

‘We were placed third, a phenomenal achievement for an all-male British group!’ says Tomas Lavery, the only dental student in the group.

The group, started by freshers in 2009, is now in its second generation of singers. They have enjoyed two sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and tours across the USA, Hong Kong and Singapore.

BSc project in The Lancet

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n March, Dena Ettehad, then a fourth-year student at the Dental Institute, had her intercalated BSc research project, a paper titled ‘Treatment outcomes for children with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a systematic review and metaanalysis’, published in the medical journal The Lancet.

Ettehad conducted her research, which aimed to assess evidence for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children, as part of her intercalated BSc in Global Health at Imperial College London from 2010-11.

At the end of year three of the BDS programme, dental students

have the opportunity to take an intercalated BSc degree, which allows them to pursue the subject of their choice in greater depth. For additional information and details of the intercalated degree at the Dental Institute, please contact Director of Education Professor Mark Woolford at mark.woolford@kcl.ac.uk

Dental students scoop prestigious scientific prizes Class of 2012

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t the sixth meeting of the Pan-European Division of the International Association for Dental Research (CED-IADR) in October, two Dental Institute undergraduates won first and second prize at the CED-IADR Junior Robert Frank Award Competition.

The Robert Frank Award is a prestigious scientific prize based on an oral presentation competition, limited to candidates who have undertaken research as an enrolled undergraduate student. The winning students, Ashvin Babbar and Sadhvik Vijay, carried out research projects as part of their intercalated BSc in Regenerative Medicine within the Biomaterials, Biomimetics and Biophotonics Research Group.

Babbar presented a paper entitled ‘Biomimetic Restorative Materials for Soft-Tissue Regeneration

Ashvin Babbar has been nominated to attend this year’s IADR General Session and Exhibition in Seattle

in Dentistry’. He has now been nominated to participate in this year’s IADR/Unilever Hatton Awards Competition at the IADR General Session and Exhibition in Seattle, USA. Unilever Oral Care will support his participation at the competition by providing registration, airfare and accommodation.

Vijay won second prize and presented his work on ‘Effects induced by a ternary photoinitiator system on the polymerisation of HEMA-containing or HEMA-free etch-and-rinse dental adhesives’.

The project led to peer-reviewed publication in the European Polymer Journal in August.

The Robert Frank Award is provided in honour of Dr Robert Frank, former President of the IADR and CED-IADR, and one of the founders of CED-IADR.

A

long with 169 students graduating with a BDS degree, a number of postgraduate students were awarded PhDs, master’s degrees and the Associateship of King’s College London (AKC) at a ceremony in Southwark Cathedral in July.

The Jelf Medal was presented to Laurent Holmes and the Newland Pedley Scholarship was awarded to Fahad Jamil.

The Saunders Prize went to Meghan McAleese and the Robert Woodhouse Prize was awarded to Corinne Clemens.

Jessica Meguire and Noman Athwal were joint winners of the A M Clover Prize.

The prizes, which are awarded annually, are based on academic and clinical performance.

January 2013 | InDent | 11

Alumni news

Badcock Dental Circle Lecture

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n this past year’s Badcock Dental Circle Lecture, Dr Michael Escudier discussed the management and treatment of salivary gland obstruction, one of the most common causes of salivary gland disease presented to the general dental practitioner. His talk, entitled ‘Modern management of obstructive salivary gland disease’, outlined 10 years of research demonstrating that an effective, more conservative treatment is available to patients, which avoids surgical removal of the gland and thus the associated risks to facial and trigeminal nerves.

In his lecture, made possible with support from Dental Circle members, Dr Escudier presented research data from the Salivary

Dr Michael Escudier

Nominate a 2013 candidate Gland Centre at the Dental Institute in which lithotripsy – which is the destruction of stones (calculi) using shock waves, basket retrieval, a modified minor surgical technique and balloon dilatation – have been used to treat salivary gland obstruction successfully. Over 70 per cent of stones can now be retrieved leaving a functioning gland.

Septodont has generously agreed to support the Badcock Lecture for the next five years.

The 2013 Badcock Dental Circle Septodont Lecture will be given on 24 October by Dr Salvatore Ruggiero, a prominent oral maxillofacial surgeon from New York. For more information, please contact Professor Tara Renton at tara.renton@kcl.ac.uk

D

ental alumni and members of staff from the Dental Institute are invited to nominate candidates for the 2013 Dental Alumni Awards, to be presented at the annual Dental Dinner on 1 March 2013. The criteria for each award and the names of previous winners can be viewed via the External Strategy webpage, www.kcl.ac.uk/dentistry/alumni/ awards. Nominations should be made no later than 1 February 2013 to Professor Fraser McDonald, Director of External Strategy at the Dental Institute, c/o Margaret Whatley at margaret.whatley@kcl.ac.uk

Dental Alumni Weekend 2012

Alumni Awards 2012

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t the Annual Dental Dinner, which took place over Dental Alumni Weekend, Professors John and Deborah Greenspan (Royal Dental, 1963; 1964) were jointly presented with the Alumnus of the Year Award. The Dental Institute presents the award to the person or persons who have achieved national or international distinction in any walk of life and brought credit to the dental profession, directly or indirectly, with particular emphasis on the past three years. The Greenspans are internationally recognised for their contributions and achievements in the field of oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS.

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From left, Professors John and Deborah Greenspan with Dr Clive Debenham, President of the Dental Alumni Association

The Distinguished Service Award was received by Martin Kelleher, consultant in restorative dentistry at the Dental Institute.

The award is intended to honour a long-serving member of staff who has made a significant contribution to the Dental Institute or one of its constituent schools. Kelleher was postgraduate tutor at King’s College Hospital and Guy’s Dental Hospital for many years. He has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally for over 25 years and is the author of many peer-reviewed articles and a book on dental bleaching.

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n March, 217 dental alumni, staff and students attended the Annual Dental Alumni Dinner, making it the biggest celebration yet. Guests enjoyed entertainment provided by the KCL Jazz Society and won prizes from the Dental Society raffle, which raised over £700 for the Student Endowment Fund. The prize for the biggest reunion went to Guy’s 25-year group.

Clinical Day on Saturday was also hugely popular, attracting over 250 attendees for a day of continuing professional development. Professor Brian Millar gave the Herbert Memorial Lecture, and Professor Saman Warnakulasuriya delivered the Rod Cawson Lecture.

The 2013 weekend will take place 1-2 March. For more information, please contact the Alumni Office on +44 (0)20 7848 3053 or email alumoff@kcl.ac.uk

Trailblazers

Frederick Newland Pedley Founder of Guy’s Dental School and benefactor of the Newland Pedley Scholarship (c1856-1944)

Frederick Newland Pedley established Guy’s Hospital Dental School and, through his generosity and foresight, ensured that it would go on to play a major part in the dramatic expansion of dental education that took place following the Second World War. He was also the first dental surgeon to accompany British troops in a war zone.

The son of a dental surgeon, Newland Pedley first came to Guy’s in 1877 as a medical student. After qualifying in dentistry, he was appointed assistant dental surgeon in 1885 and dental surgeon in 1887. At the time, dental care consisted mainly of extracting teeth, but Newland Pedley felt strongly that the focus should instead be on conservation.

He set up a room at his own expense where patients, nurses and students could come to be treated with the aim of conserving their own teeth.

Newland Pedley was convinced that Guy’s should have its own dental school, despite strong opposition

In an age when dentists focused much of their time on extracting teeth, Newland Pedley’s emphasis was on conservation

His support for Guy’s continues today

from inside and outside the hospital.

The two existing London dental schools, the Royal Dental Hospital and the National Dental Hospital, insisted that they could meet demand for treatment. Newland Pedley believed otherwise, and in December 1888 his campaigning paid off when his proposal gained the official approval of Guy’s governors. Guy’s Dental Hospital School admitted its first cohort of 22 students in 1889.

He became Dean of the school in 1899, the same year that the Boer War broke out in South Africa. It may seem hard to believe now, but at the time tooth decay had a devastating impact on the health and morale of the troops, with soldiers literally incapable of biting and chewing their Army rations. The issue was explored in a film, Came the Dawn, by the Victorian healthcare pioneer Dr George Cunningham, which claimed that as many as four in every five recruits were rejected because of their bad teeth and coined the slogan,

‘Can’t bite, can’t fight’.

Newland Pedley’s response was characteristic. In February 1900 he went out to South Africa at his own expense, taking his own equipment, to serve as Honorary Dental Surgeon in the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein. After six months, he returned to London to campaign for the formation of an Army dental corps. In response, the government hired four dentists – something of a token effort.

Newland Pedley served as Dean until his retirement in 1907. Even then, his campaigning did not stop: at the start of the First World War, he travelled to Rouen to offer his dental services to the British Expeditionary Force. He continued to support dentistry at Guy’s up to and beyond his death in 1944, bequeathing most of his estate in trust to the school and endowing the Newland Pedley Medal and Prize, still one of the most prestigious undergraduate prizes in the Dental Institute.

January 2013 | InDent | 13

Research

Detecting diabetes

Suki Dhanda

Early detection is key to the successful treatment of diabetes. A new research project is exploring how dentists can play a major role in the move towards a universal screening programme

Almost three million people in the UK are diagnosed with diabetes and a further 850,000 have the condition but don’t yet know it, according to Diabetes UK. Type 2, by far the most common form of diabetes, usually has no obvious symptoms in its early stages and can remain undetected for years.

Uncontrolled, diabetes can lead to nerve damage, kidney damage, blindness, limb amputations and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

With early diagnosis, people can take control of the disease, proactively managing their blood glucose levels and avoiding the major health problems associated with the advanced stages of untreated or poorly-controlled diabetes.

There’s also the issue of cost.

The World Health Organisation has calculated that patients with diabetes use up to three times the healthcare resources of non-diabetics and, according to a recent study published in Diabetic Medicine, the cost of treating complications arising from diabetes is expected to almost double from £7.7 billion currently to £13.5 billion by 2035.

Currently, there is no universal screening programme for diabetes.

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Now a team from the Dental Institute is working to test the feasibility of a simple method of screening for diabetes that can be carried out by dentists.

‘We know that a lot of people are more likely to pay routine visits to the dentist than to the doctor,’ explains Dr Koula Asimakopoulou of the Institute’s Unit of Social and Behavioural Sciences. ‘And gum disease can be one of the indicators of diabetes. So dentists really are well placed to play a significant role in helping us screen for the disease.’

Dr Asimakopoulou and her colleagues – Professor Stephen Dunne, Dr Suzanne Scott and Kathryn Bould – have devised a simple but thorough process for screening. While they wait for their appointment, patients are asked if they’d like to answer some simple questions – for example, on their BMI, eating habits and exercise routine – to identify whether they are at risk of diabetes. If their answers suggest an increased risk, they will be invited to take a simple fingerprick test that will measure their blood glucose levels over the past six to eight weeks. The results will be available immediately and, if there is any cause for concern, the dentist will

Dr Koula Asimakopoulou, left, and Kathryn Bould

Gum disease can be one of the indicators of diabetes

refer the patients on to their GP for a diagnostic test and specialist advice.

The finger-prick test is easy to administer and, with patients being referred to their GPs straight away, there is no need for dentists to acquire any more in-depth knowledge of diabetes than they already have. Where the challenge arises, as Dr Asimakopoulou explains, is in supporting dental teams to communicate with patients about what may potentially be a very sensitive health issue – and in a way that encourages patients who are at risk to take the vital next step and go to their GP. ‘Dentists and their teams have an important role to play in encouraging participation in screening,’ she says.

‘It’s important that they explain the risks and implications sensitively and appropriately.’ The main goal of the current systematic review phase is therefore to find the best ways of communicating risk and maximising uptake of screening.

Follow-up is an important part of the overall process. Patients who are referred to their GP will be called twice, one month and then two months after their dental appointments. If they’ve been to their GP, they will be asked about their

Targeted treatment Researchers at the Institute are striving to develop more effective and better targeted treatment for head and neck cancers

test results; if they haven’t, they will be prompted to do so. After three months, the dental team will contact the GP to verify the diagnosis.

Patients will also be asked to complete simple questionnaires during this period, including questions about their general mood and behaviours, as well as their thoughts about diabetes and the screening process.

‘The follow-up questionnaires are designed to help us understand why people do or don’t go through screening or make an appointment with their GP,’ explains Dr Asimakopoulou. ‘We can then use this information to better understand the psychological profile of those who attend for screening and those who don’t. This information will help us support and encourage non-attenders in the future.’

The team is also planning for the next phase of the research. ‘We’re now in the process of setting up the main study with primary dental practices,’ says Dr Asimakopoulou.

‘We’re hoping to be in a position to recruit patients into the study in early 2013. King’s and a major pharmaceutical company have kindly provided the funding for our work, and we expect to collect the majority of our data in 2013.’

A team of Dental Institute researchers is focusing on two ways to improve head and neck cancer care: developing more reliable means of detecting hypoxia in tumours and identifying biomarkers for predicting how patients will respond to treatment.

‘For both projects, the fundamental goal is the same,’ says Professor Mahvash Tavassoli. ‘We want to be able to design programmes of treatment that better suit the individual patient’s needs.’

Professor Tavassoli says clinicians often have no choice but to take a ‘sledgehammer’ approach to the treatment of head and neck cancers, which are often aggressive and resistant to conventional therapies.

‘The risks of under-treating are obvious,’ she says. ‘But what sometimes happens at the moment is that patients receive more intensive treatment than is actually required, and needlessly suffer what can be very severe life-long side-effects.’

Tumour hypoxia – where a tumour receives insufficient blood-borne oxygen – is linked to increased resistance to both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The mutations that cause the resistance also enable the tumour to spread. There are two possible approaches to dealing with hypoxia: using drugs to modify the hypoxia itself; and customising the patient’s treatment regime.

What has been missing until now is the first step: a reliable way of detecting which tumours are hypoxic. Professor Tavassoli’s team is currently working with colleagues in the radio-chemistry and radiooncology departments at Guy’s and St Thomas’ to test a new type of scan, using copper that has been labelled with a tracer. The theory is that this

It’s vital that we start detecting these cancers earlier

will collect in hypoxic areas.

‘If we can prove that it works, we can move on to a phase 2 study with about 20 patients,’ says Professor Tavassoli. ‘A new procedure like this must be tested with very large numbers of patients before it goes into routine clinical use, and that takes considerable time and money.’

Initial support for the project has been provided by the Rosetrees Trust and the King’s Health Partners R&D Challenge Fund.

The second strand of the project involves developing biomarkers to predict how patients will respond to treatment. This is especially important in head and neck cancers, which are often detected late and can be complex to treat. ‘Developing the biomarkers is important,’ says Professor Tavassoli, ‘but it’s also vital that we start detecting these cancers earlier.’ That means working closely with dentists and, in particular, encouraging them to look for signs in younger patients, who are increasingly at risk of cancers linked to the human papillomavirus – a common virus that affects the skin and mucous membranes.

‘This research has the potential to help many thousands of people,’ says Professor Tavassoli, who in 2012 visited colleagues at the University of Singapore to learn more about their work on tumour hypoxia.

‘Head and neck cancers affect around half a million people worldwide, and often the prognosis is not good.

Numbers of younger patients are growing, and Cancer Research UK has identified it as a priority area.

If we can better understand the conditions we’re treating, we can enable clinicians to better target their resources – and, we hope, deliver better outcomes for patients.’

January 2013| InDent | 15

Events & Reunions

Events Dental Alumni Weekend 2013 Date: 1-2 March 2013 Venue: Specialist afternoon sessions

at Guy’s Campus; Annual Dental Dinner at the Hilton Hotel, Tower Bridge; Clinical Day and Dental Alumni Association AGM at New Hunt’s House, Guy’s Campus Details: Dental Alumni Weekend brings together professional development and social networking opportunities for alumni, staff, students and friends. Friday will feature continuing professional development sessions for our specialist sections, open to alumni.

The Annual Dental Dinner will honour the reunion years of 1988, 1978 and 1963, as well as the 2013 Alumnus of the Year and recipients of the Distinguished Service Awards. Clinical Day will follow on Saturday, featuring Professor Avijit Banerjee giving the Herbert Memorial Lecture and Professor Tara Renton delivering the Rod Cawson Lecture. The full programme can be found in the Dental Alumni Weekend brochure or online at www.alumni.kcl. ac.uk/dental2013. The weekend’s organising body is the Committee of the Dental Alumni Association. All alumni are warmly invited to attend the association’s AGM held at noon, 2 March, in Lecture Theatre 2, New Hunt’s House. For more information about the AGM, contact Nigel Fisher, c/o Alumni Office, Ground Floor, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2R 1HH, or email nigel.fisher@kcl.ac.uk Alumni Weekend 2013 Date: 7-9 June 2013 Venue: Multiple locations Details: King’s 10th annual Alumni

Weekend will feature a range of lectures, tours and entertainment open to alumni from all graduation years, schools and merged institutions. This year’s theme is King’s: your global passport, so come back to campus for an exciting series of internationally themed events.

For more information, please visit www.alumni.kcl.ac.uk/events

or contact the Alumni Office at alumoff@kcl.ac.uk Badcock Dental Circle Septodont Lecture Date: 24 October 2013 Venue: Guy’s Campus Details: Dr Salvatore Ruggiero, a

prominent oral maxillofacial surgeon from New York, will deliver the 2013 Badcock Dental Circle Septodont Lecture. For more information about the lecture, please contact Professor Tara Renton at tara.renton@kcl.ac.uk

Reunions Annual Dental Dinner reunions Date: 1 March 2013 Venue: Tower Hilton Hotel Details: Tickets for the dinner

are £50 per person. To book for any of the reunions listed below, please contact reunions@kcl.ac.uk or call on +44 (0)20 7848 7438; be sure to note the reunion you will attend.

Guy’s, Class of 1988, led by Alison Pernollet, on 1 March as part of the Annual Dental Dinner Guy’s, Class of 1978, coordinated

by Eric Whaites, on 1 March as part of the Annual Dental Dinner KCSMD, Class of 1963, led by

• • •

Mark your calendar: Dental Alumni Weekend 2013 is scheduled for 1-2 March

Alan Forbes, Marco Alcalay and Brian Lee, on 1 March as part of the Annual Dental Dinner Guy’s, Class of 1962-3, led by Peter Gedge and Mike Ribeiro, 12.30 on 2 March, Henriette Raphael Suite, Guy’s Campus; £30 per person.

For more information about reunions, visit www.alumni.kcl. ac.uk/events, email reunions@kcl. ac.uk or call on +44 (0)20 7848 7438 to learn more.

•

Calling all 2014 reunion leaders!

If you graduated in a year ending in a 4 or a 9, then 2014 is a special anniversary year for you. Now is the time to start planning your reunion celebration during Dental Alumni Weekend, scheduled for the first weekend of March 2014. The dinner provides the perfect setting to gather with classmates and reminisce about your student days.

The Alumni Office will send a ‘save the date’ notice to your classmates in October on your behalf, followed by an official invitation in next year’s InDent. Your role will be to rally your classmates for the reunion to ensure that your group wins the coveted prize of the largest reunion. Interested?

Contact reunions@kcl.ac.uk or call on +44 (0)20 7848 7438.

InDent editorial team Louise King, Publications & Information Officer, Dental Institute, louise.king@kcl.ac.uk | Amanda Calberry, Communications Co-ordinator, amanda.calberry@kcl.ac.uk | James Bressor, Deputy Head, Print & Editorial, james.bressor@kcl.ac.uk Designed by Esterson Associates Tel +44 (0)20 7684 6500 | Cover image by Suki Dhanda

16 | InDent | January 2013