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Community Dental Health

Cover Date:

June 2006

Print ISSN:

0265 539X

Vol:

23

Issue:

2

Presidential Address

Presidential Address, BASCD Spring Scientific Meeting Robinson College, University of Cambridge, March 2006
Members, welcome to the historic city of Cambridge, and to Robinson College. When planning this conference 2 years ago we had no idea that it would coincide with the date of the biggest change in NHS dentistry since 1948, at the same time, another reorganisation of the NHS is underway. Not surprisingly this has suggested to me that my theme for this address should be “Change”. The traditional theories of strategic change emphasised the need for organisations to respond and adapt to changes in the environment by firstly ‘unfreezing’ their current position, before making the desirable changes and then stabilising or ‘refreezing’ these changes. However, as organisational change theories develop, it is becoming clear that in modern society, the attainment of stability is not a realistic goal. I think that this applies to all areas of life. The external environment, in the form of fundamental technological, organisational and social change, is shifting faster now than ever before. This suggests that continuity and stability are unlikely to occur in the near future. Organisations must therefore learn to view change as a continuous process of adaptation to an evolving environment. This seems particularly pertinent for the current NHS and for dentistry. I always enjoy reading the articles of Stephen Hancocks and I would like to quote from his editorial in the BDJ just 3 weeks ago: “The human condition does not much like change. ‘Why can’t it be like it was?’ is a frequently heard plea in many areas of life. Well, put quite bluntly, it can’t be like it was”. Cambridge today is certainly not like it was at its inception 2,000 years ago. The current city with its juxtaposition of old and new provides a fascinating place to visit and an exciting place to live, the contrasts being evidence of the changes that Cambridge has experienced. It was near Castle Hill during the first century BC that Belgic tribes established the first settlement, near the spot where the river Granta ( the original name for the Cam) could be easily forded. When the Romans arrived in AD 43, however, it took on a more strategic significance, the ford was the crossing point on the Via Devana, the Roman road connecting Colchester with Chester, the Romans duly stationed soldiers here to secure the Emperor’s interests against rebellious Britons – and it is likely these soldiers were called upon to do exactly that during the Iceni uprising in AD50. Under the Romans the settlement grew from a village to a town- but it wasn’t until the eighth century that it acquired its first bridge, built by the great Mercian king Offa, where Magdalene bridge stands today. The town’s markets prospered, and despite an unsuccessful stand against invading Vikings – who reinforced the point by setting the town ablaze – “Grantebridge” was a thriving community by the time of the Norman Conquest. Then, once again, an invader was to exploit its strategic position to quell its rebellious population. On Castle Hill William the Conqueror raised a fortress from which to subdue the army of Hereward the Wake, the Saxon rebel who was fighting a resistance campaign against the Normans from his base in the Fens. The rule of the Norman king proved uncompromising – the Domesday book tells us that “27 houses have been destroyed for the castle”- but the rule also provided stability. As peace returned so the town’s prosperity increased, and by 1207 it had become a Royal borough by charter of King John. 1209 saw the arrival of yet another group of rebels. This time they were scholars, who had left Oxford (or been required to leave- reports vary) following violent quarrels with residents of Oxford. In the 1280’s, Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely, set about creating a proper place of study for this growing community of “studious scholars”, leading to the founding of the first college – Peterhouse- in 1284. Others followed and as the reputation of Cambridge grew so it attracted increasingly generous patronage from English monarchs, culminating in Henry VIII’s grand design for Trinity College in 1546. Within a century however, rebellion had reared its head in the most dramatic possible fashion. The monarchy that had so enriched the cultural life of the City was under direct attack, thanks to a Cambridgeshire Member of Parliament who had received his education at Sidney Sussex College. His name was Oliver Cromwell. When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, England finally found ways for parliament and monarchy to coexist more harmoniously. Cambridge demonstrates a mix of traditional values and revolutionary thinking. The outcomes of this University include: • The unravelling of DNA • Splitting the atom • Code breaking to change the course of World War 1 • Literary geniuses such as Milton, Marlowe, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Byron • Scientists such as Newton, Darwin, Rutherford and Hawking. It has produced more Nobel prize winners than any other University, and also many famous entertainers such as Peter Cook, Clive James, the Goodies, Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Fry and Laurie, and even Winnie the Pooh. To turn now to the more modern surroundings within which this meeting takes place. Robinson College was formally opened by the Queen on 29 May, 1981. Sir David Robinson entrepreneur, College founder, and philanthropist, was born 13 April 1904 in Cambridge, the third of six sons and third of nine children. He was educated at the Cambridge High School for Boys, which he left at the age of fifteen in order to work in his fa-

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Page Start

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Articles from this issue

• Title
• Pg. Start
• Pg. End

1. Editorial - Providing children with the quality dental care they deserve
2. 66
3. 68

1. The impact of fixed orthodontic appliances on daily life
2. 67
3. 74

1. Service quality implications of dental undergraduate outreach teaching for Primary Care Trusts in England, UK.
2. 75
3. 79

1. Prevalence of hypodontia and hyperdontia in paedodontic and orthodontic patients in Budapest
2. 80
3. 82

1. Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Dental Cognition Questionnaire
2. 83
3. 90

1. Dental caries experience in preschool children in Veneto region (Italy)
2. 91
3. 94

1. Improving access to dental care in East London’s ethnic minority groups: community based, qualitative study
2. 95
3. 100

1. The unequal burden related to the risk of oral cancer in the different regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2. 101
3. 106

1. Can oral health promotion help develop masticatory function and prevent dental caries?
2. 107
3. 115

1. The equity of access to primary dental care for children in the North East of England
2. 116
3. 119

1. Presidential Address
2. 120
3. 122