Northern Ireland’s Acting Chief Dental Officer, Donncha O’Carolan, has issued a statement that the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) is scrapping the current programme of school dental screenings once those for the 2007/08 school year have been completed. This decision has been made following the results of research from the University … Continued

According to the latest figures from the Central Applications Office (CAO), there has been an increase in the number of students applying for dentistry courses at Level 8 (honours degree). This year, 1,110 people have applied for dentistry, an increase of 19.87% over last year’s figure of 926. Conversely at Level 7 (ordinary degree), there … Continued

The Tuarascáil Bhliantúil Annual Report 2007, launched on 8 April, has revealed the Health Service Executive, as a result of an investigation, apologised for providing public health dental services in English only for a Gaeltacht school, in breach of an agreed statutory obligation. A parent of a child attending a national school in the Gaeltacht … Continued

Fintan Hourihan has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Irish Dental Association (IDA). Mr Hourihan, who is currently director of industrial relations with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), will take up the post in June.

Coating dental implants with a synthetic bone material before implanting helps them settle in the mouth more successfully than traditional titanium, according to new research. J.D. Santos, of the Biomedical Engineering Institute in Portugal, found that although titanium’s biological inertness means it will not trigger an adverse reaction from the immune system, it also means … Continued

Scientists are developing the technology to enable teeth to regrow the crystals that make up dentin and enamel. The technology will eventually phase out fillings and drillings completely. The goal – estimated to be at least 10 years away – is to spot tooth decay early enough that they then get the teeth to grow … Continued

State sector employees must now operate under new disciplinary codes that provide greater opportunities for rewards, but also makes it easier to discipline poor performers and even dismiss them, McCann FitzGerald Solicitors has advised. Speaking at a Legal Island Conference on the subject of HR matters for the State sector on 3 April, Terence McCrann, … Continued