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

People from Northern Ireland are among the least likely in the UK to complain about dental services, a new report has found. Less than one in 100 complaints logged by the Dental Complaints Service is from Ulster, according to the service’s first annual report. The Dental Complaints Service helps resolve complaints about private dental care, … Continued

One of the big winners at the Dentistry Awards 2007, held on 7 December, was James Hamill of Blue Apple who won Best Young Dentist, not only for the Northern Ireland region but also for the UK. Siobhan Lewney, IrishDentist.ie editor, spoke to a delighted James Hamill after the awards ceremony. James commented: ‘This is … Continued

A team of volunteers comprising dentists, paediatricians, anaesthetists, nurses and medical students recently performed about 200 cleft lip and palate operations in Africa, as part of a 25-year-old mission to help some of the poorest children in the world. The 23 volunteers with Operation Smile Ireland worked in Africa for up to two weeks, while … Continued

A dental training robot, named Simroid, which is short for ‘simulator humanoid’, has realistic skin over its metal skeleton, moving eyes and a mouth fitted with replica teeth. Demonstrated at the 2007 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, Simroid said: ‘Ow, that hurt!’ and narrowed her eyes as a dentist drilled on her replica teeth. ‘Now, … Continued

Ciara Murphy has handed in her resignation as CEO of the Irish Dental Association, a position she has held since the beginning of 2006. Ms Murphy was unavailable for comment.