EDITORIAL

Transition and transformation

Dr Ciara Scott

Honorary Editor

As dental teams await the imminent roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations, this edition looks at another threat to practice – cybercrime – and continues our updates on the 2017 periodontal classification.

The last 12 months have brought many unique and unexpected challenges and changes to our lives. Of course, life is full of changes, some natural and others unforeseen. I had never considered the difference between change and transition until I read a book by William Bridges, an author and researcher in organisational change.1 Bridges defines change as situational, an event or a natural progression, but transition as the inner psychological process of reorientation and personal redefinition in response to these external events.

This transition happens through different phases that start with the ending of the old situation and support the shift in our mindset that allows us to incorporate change into our lives. Without transition, change is just a rearrangement or disruption; with transition, it can be transformational. In response to the changing needs of the profession, this year’s IDA Annual Conference, ‘Online World, In-Person Dentist’, will take advantage of a virtual format. In this issue we introduce some of the speakers from outside Ireland who will be Zooming in to present to us. We also share details of the upcoming Wednesday webinars, which have been very popular with IDA members. In this virtual world, we are increasingly conscious of data security. I thank both of the dental practitioners for sharing their stories of cyber threats in our cybersecurity feature in this issue, and also thank Dr Mark Sanchez and Bill Holohan for sharing their expertise on the steps we can take to protect our practice data and manage a threat.

Education and leadership

In this issue, we publish the second article in a case series on the application of the new periodontal classification. While the classification changed in 2017, it takes us longer to start to think in terms of the newer classification and adapt to fully using it in practice. This series has been a collaborative effort of postgraduate students, specialists and consultants, and I thank Michael Nolan and his co-authors for this article. Consecutive years of dental students at TCD have voted for Peter Harrison as their best clinical teacher and I am delighted that he has brought this ability to educate to the JIDA in co-ordinating this series. Our educators support our continued professional development. I am very thankful to Prof. Anthony Roberts for sharing his clinical expertise on implementation tools for this classification and expect that our readers will find this practical guidance very useful in clinical practice. Kirsten FitzGerald is also well known to many of us as an educator and I’m delighted that she has shared her professional journey with us in our ‘My Profession’ section, from completing her clinical specialist training to learning to lead her service within Children’s Health Ireland through the HSE Leading Care Programme. Well-publicised conflict and controversy delayed the establishment of the CHI Hospital Group and construction of the new children’s hospital. Dr FitzGerald has shared her thoughts on how a transformational approach by the dental profession can support the much-needed successful implementation of the oral health

policy. One area of innovation and research is in minimally invasive approaches to the preservation of pulpal vitality in deeper carious lesions. In our peer-reviewed article, Brenda Barrett and Michael O’Sullivan have reviewed the literature and share some evidence-based guidance on management of deep carious lesions.

Your input is welcome

We welcome letters to the editor, and thank Anne O’Connell, Anika Shah and Ella Holden for sharing their knowledge in this issue. Readers can also contact the JIDA if they would like to submit a quiz for a future issue or have ideas for features they would like to see in future editions. I am delighted that we have been able to announce that the Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year Awards will return this year and look forward to sharing more details later in the year. The IDA has been a very strong advocate for Covid-19 vaccinations for dental teams. As we go to press, this roll-out is imminent and should offer a much-needed boost of protection to the profession. For anyone interested in an additional boost of positivity, the RCSI Centre for Positive Psychology and Health is offering a free 10-week programme on the Science of Health and Happiness2 this spring.

References

1. Bridges, W. Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes. Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2019. 2. Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Centre for Positive Psychology and Health -

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (rcsi.com).