Congratulations to Dr Shane Byrne of Ardee, County Louth, the winner of Irish Dentist’s K Club experience. Dr Byrne’s name was the first drawn out of the hat from those who filled in the Irish Dentist readership survey. The team at Irish Dentist would like to extend its thanks to all of you who took … Continued

On 12 December 2007 the Minister for Health Promotion and Food Safety, Pat The Cope Gallagher TD, launched the report on the Evaluation of the Specialist Certificate in Health Promotion (Oral Health). The Specialist Certificate is a 12-month part-time course provided by the National University of Ireland, Galway, and the Dental Health Foundation. The course … Continued

The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) has issued its second warning in 18 months about bisphosphonates, a class of drugs used to combat bone thinning. A release from the IMB stated: ‘Osteonecrosis of the jaw continues to be reported as a suspected adverse drug reaction associated with bisphosphonates and the number of reports appear to be … Continued

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston can identify and quantify specific protein markers in human saliva to provide an early, non-invasive diagnosis of breast cancer, according to a study published in a recent issue of Cancer Investigation. The study describes how the onset of breast cancer produces a change in … Continued

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has reiterated its concern over successive governments’ failure to establish a centralised storage facility to manage disused radioactive sources from dental clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities. In the RPII Annual Report and Accounts 2006, which was released on 17 December 2007, the RPII also highlighted that a … Continued

Minister for Health Mary Harney has said that she is looking at the possibility of establishing an independent review body that would recommend fee scales for self-employed professionals, including dentists. Ms Harney is considering this as an option following the furore surrounding the Government’s assertion that both EU and national competition legislation prohibits the State … Continued

A gender report, Women and Men in Ireland 2007, has revealed that in the health service women represented just over 30% of dental professionals at consultant level and 45% at non-consultant level. The table above shows Ireland’s health service personnel by grade category These statistics are slightly higher than in 2006, when the figure for … Continued