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Our congratulations go to Professor Peter Heasman, ex-BSP President and Professor of Periodontology at Newcastle University. He has being awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours list for his services to research ethics. NHS Research Ethics Committees safeguard the rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing of patients and volunteers taking part in medical research. They review applications for research and give an opinion about the proposed participant involvement and whether the research is ethical. Professor Heasman said: “To say that this honour was a surprise is something of an understatement. It is an immense honour to receive such recognition. But the real appreciation goes to all those colleagues that I have worked with so closely over the last 20 years: REC members and managers, colleagues, trainers and all those at the HRA. It really has been an absolute privilege. “The ethics service (and indeed all clinical research in the UK) would not prevail without those who volunteer their ‘ethics’ time in abundance. None of us can call it our ‘day job’ yet we become involved possibly out of curiosity but also because we want to contribute to the safety of UK research, and upholding the dignity and rights of research participants. We do this neither for reward nor recognition, but when something like this comes along it makes one feel incredibly proud.”

As new statistics reveal a fall in prescribing of antibiotics by clinicians across all NHS healthcare settings, dentists’ leaders have called on colleagues to build on this success by using a new toolkit to support effective antimicrobial stewardship.

We are delighted that the Good Practitioner Guide, produced by the BSP earlier this year, is to be translated by the Norwegian Society for its members. "We are delighted that you will allow us to translate the GPG. There has been a lack of this kind of guide in Norway. The board of the NPF have discussed for some time to make a guide like this when we became aware of your excellent guide." Kristen Kolltveit, Norwegian Society of Periodontology "The GPG continues to create impact and we are excited that the Norwegian Society of Periodontology will translate the guide. This follows versions from both the Austrian and Spanish Societies of Periodontology" Ian Needleman, Editor-in-chief, GPG

The BSP film, The Sound of Periodontitis, has a whole new audience now there is a version with Russian subtitles. It joins a series of others that are subtitled in Spanish, Croatian and French. Estonian and Polish are also in the pipeline. The demand for the film in a number of languages reflects its power in conveying the perio patient perspective of life with this condition.

This film sums up our recent gum health awareness campaign and makes us proud to have achieved so much this year with the help of our partners and supporters - oh and the general public too!

We approve wholeheartedly of this article in Monday's Guardian - it's a well-balanced piece AND it mentions our BSP President Phil Ower!

An interesting article appeared in today's Telegraph looking at the links between brushing your teeth and heart conditions. Here is the BSP's take on this...

EFP Masterclinic 3 - 4 March 2017 Mediterranean Conference Centre, Malta For full details please click here

A recent review paper about to be published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology by a group of investigators from Amsterdam found that toothbrushing alone may be as effective as toothbrushing with toothpaste in terms of plaque removal. This is not unexpected since the mechanical action of toothbrushing has for centuries been known to be an effective means of removing dental plaque and food debris. However, there is more to it than this. Plaque removal alone is only part of the toothbrushing process. Dental professionals encourage the use of toothpaste as it carries a whole range of active ingredients which protect the teeth and gums: fluorides to strengthen the teeth against the ravages of dental decay agents which reduce tooth sensitivity anti-bacterial agents which kill bacteria in plaque In addition to these benefits, for which there is abundant evidence, toothpaste use can help with: stain removal breath freshening making the mouth feel cleaner and healthier The paper is an interesting review of the available evidence and a useful addition to the scientific literature on oral hygiene habits but it does not mean that toothpaste is a waste of time and money. The British Society of Periodontology advises that toothbrushing should include the use of toothpaste as it has multiple actions and benefits which were not investigated in this review. Reference: Valkenburg, C., Slot D.E., Bakker E., Van der Weijden F. (2016) Does dentifrice use help to remove plaque? A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Periodontology (in press); doi: 10.1111/jcpe.12615