All residents at adult addiction treatment centres in Ireland should undergo an oral cancer screening examination upon admission to the centre, according to Dr Eleanor O’Sullivan of Cork University Dental School and Hospital in her report on Oral Cancer Screening Study of High Risk Individuals. In Ireland, oral and pharyngeal cancer represents approximately 4% of … Continued

A new national health literacy campaign, the MSD/NALA Health Literacy Initiative, was launched earlier this week to help health professionals communicate clearly with patients.  Health literacy is a person’s ability to make sound health decisions in the context of everyday life. With over 50% of the Irish population affected in some way by literacy difficulties, … Continued

The Dental Council of Ireland has established the role of the clinical dental technician (CDT) as a class of dental auxiliary. Created with the consent of the Minister for Health, appropriately qualified CDTs are allowed to manufacture and fit removable dentures for patients, independent of a dentist. The Council reports that at first only about … Continued

The New York University College of Dentistry has begun testing a three-dimensional bone tissue scaffold printer that could substantially reduce bone regeneration time in the oral cavity and elsewhere in the body. Bone generated from the scaffolds could be used to shore up alveolar bone to support dental implants, as well as to repair cleft … Continued

As reported in Irish Medical News, retirements and resignations in the Galway dental department are posing challenges in the provision of oral health screening and treatment services to hundreds of primary school children in the region, as up to 21 schools have no permanent dentist in the HSE West region. Last year two dentists retired … Continued

A new anaesthesiology study analysis, presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anaesthesiologists, indicates a possible link between childhood exposure to general anaesthesia and an increased risk of behavioural and developmental disorders in young children. Recent animal studies have shown that commonly used anaesthetic agents may have serious neurotoxic effects on … Continued

Queen’s University in Belfast is offering a valuable opportunity to learn from different public health perspectives through a new course. The University is now running an MSc in Public Health following the recent launch of the £5m UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health (Northern Ireland), which is hosted by Queen’s. The new degree is … Continued