Journal of Disability and Oral Health

cover art

Cover Date:
December 2009
Print ISSN:
1470-8558
Vol:
10
Issue:
4

Editorial

As we close on 2009 and look forward, 2010 is a significant year for those working in the field of Special Care Dentistry, both at home and abroad. In 2010 the Journal celebrates its 10-year anniversary and the 20th Biennial Congress of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health takes place in Ghent, Belgium. The biennial congress is also a celebration of the 25th anniversary of training in Paediatric and Special Care Dentistry in the University School in Ghent. The programme theme is ‘Caring for Quality of Life’. Keynote presentations will focus on topics as diverse as the Special Smiles program, Ethics and education, Orthodontics, Music therapy, Down syndrome, Sleep apnoea and Xerostomia. Abstract submission is now open at: http://www.iadh2010.be/Abstractsubmission.html The Congress, as well as the Journal, give us all the opportunity to appraise the scientific community of our work, an opportunity to invite collaboration and, as importantly, the opportunity to meet with those working in similar areas and to exchange ideas. This showcasing of an emerging speciality also highlights the relative isolation that people working in the area have undertaken in their endeavours on behalf of patients. It is all to easy to be unaware of others working in a related area with whom there is scope to collaborate but also to confer and agree on challenges and the means to address these. In many respects Special Care Dentistry has come of age; the Journal is about to embark on its second decade and, like IADH is well established and the international voice of the speciality. The Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Special Care in the University of Ghent likewise has earned the respect of the scientific community and has international recognition for the work it does, pioneered by the visionary approach of its Chairman, Professor Luc Martens and his team, in particular Professor Luc Marks.

Having come of age, all those serious about promoting Special Care Dentistry must engage in a determined effort to now move the speciality to the next phase. Much effort in many countries has been focussed on engaging with political decision-makers to establish the credentials of the speciality-for the greater good of patients. Advocacy with other stakeholders has also, to some extent, helped achieve that. We need now, alongside these continuing efforts, to lend credibility to our standing in the scientific community, by adopting a more rigorous approach to our work. Organisations like IADH and national bodies must give the leadership and direction in areas of scientific research to establish the evidence base that is particular to Special Care Dentistry. Such organisations, as well as individual academic teams, have to phrase the research questions and engage with the wider scientific community; international congresses give us all the opportunity to contribute to that debate and to distil from it what is really important for patients. Notwithstanding the exhilaration of scientific discovery, that is all that matters, not individual accolades or the brilliance of individuals or teams, but patients. That is what we are about. Let us never lose sight of that. June Nunn, Editor. Dublin, December 2009

Vacancy for Editor Journal of Disability and Oral Health The British Society for Disability and Oral Health is looking for a new Editor for the Journal of Disability and Oral Health. The Post will become vacant in June 2010. Interested applicant should forward a letter of intent electronically, together with a CV, by 28th January 2010 to: Dr Sue Greening, Chairperson, British Society for Disability and Oral Health at: sue.greening@wales.nhs.uk. Informal enquiries to current Editor, Professor June Nunn: june.nunn@dental.tcd.ie

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
146
Page End
146
Authors
June Nunn

Articles from this issue

  • Title
  • Pg. Start
  • Pg. End

  1. Editorial
  2. 146
  3. 146

  1. Appropriate referrals to Special Care Dentistry: a retrospective study
  2. 147
  3. 150

  1. An audit of a protocol for the management of patients with hereditary bleeding disorders undergoing dental treatment
  2. 151
  3. 155

  1. Parental perceptions of oral health and access to oral health care services for children with special educational needs in South Bedfordshire
  2. 156
  3. 160

  1. Frequency and distribution of gingival bleeding in a population of para-athletes competing at the III Para-Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro 2007
  2. 163
  3. 168

  1. Retrospective audit of the prescribed systemic medication taken by adults using Salaried Primary Care Dental Services in Warwickshire and implications for dental care
  2. 169
  3. 174

  1. The knowledge and attitudes of North Wales healthcare professionals to bisphosphonate associated osteochemonecrosis of the jaws
  2. 175
  3. 183

  1. Strategies for the prevention of dental caries in people with disabilities: a review of risk factors, adapted preventive measures and cognitive support
  2. 184
  3. 192

  1. BSDH Guidelines
  2. 193
  3. 193

  1. Reviewers
  2. 195
  3. 195

  1. Diary Dates 2010
  2. 196
  3. 196

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