December 2010 School Advent Calender 2010. ---------- Staff Student Quiz The End of term went out with a bang as after clinics, BUDSS organised a staff student quiz. The staff were confident, the students were not. The Alex MacGregor lecture filled up and the teams entered. Our excellent quiz masters were Mr B and Mr T and they kicked off the proceedings. The staff team was nervous and by the music round the students were building up a cricket score.
By the end it was almost 2:1 on the points to the students. It was good fun and the acting out of Chicken Run film in the Charades section by Mr Hamburger will remain one of the highlights of the evening. Well done to Hurjoht and co from the students. Much of the organisation and success of the evening should also go to Mr Patel. Afterwards there were drinks at Soundbyte followed by various Student firm dinners in the city. It was a great end to the term.
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---------- Christmas Carol Service The Dental School Carol Concert was held in the Alex MacGregor Lecture theatre led by Prof Iain Chapple and Jacqueline Chok. The staff and students gave renditions of the popular carols. We also had some little helpers that looked very suspiciously as if they belonged to Iain!!
--------- Mince Pies Galore! Prof. Lumley’s open house took place in the Osborne Room and there were plenty of mince pies and ‘refreshments’ for everybody. There were many visitors including our friends from the Medical School. It made everyone realise that Christmas is not that far away!! ---------- Don't look down Father Christmas
---------- A visitor from Switzerland The School has many guests travelling through and some stay longer than a day. You may see Dr. Clemens Walter, from the University of Basel around the building. He is becoming well known for his love of coffee but really he is here to collaborate on research with the School. He also presented a lecture to our students on “Diagnosis and surgical treatment of furcation involved maxillary molars”. Here we see him in the Alex MacGregor Lecture theatre with our very own Martin Ling.
------------------- Medical and Dental Sciences Christmas Social Nice to see you, to see you ......NICE ------- Yesterday the School said goodbye to Michelle Shortall who has been at the school for a very long time. She has seen several Directors over her time in office and kept them on the straight and narrow. Philip Lumley did explain about his stud undies and we have a few candid snaps taken from the floor for you to enjoy as well as the official picture taken by Marina. Thank you Michelle for all your help for the School of Dentistry and please stay in touch. ---------- Student Elective presentations The elective presentations took place in the Alex Macgregor and the proceedings was opened by Dr Kirsty Hill. There were prizes awarded and the Examiners awarded the following prizes. November 2010 Birmingham Professor chosen for student dentistry awards judging panel
----------- Hereward revisited
--------- Birmingham Dental Student presents at Sands Cox Society The Sands Cox Society held its annual Scientific Meeting at the Birmingham Medical Institute. There were presentations from those medical and dental students who had received bursaries for their Elective projects. Zehra Yonel was the Dental representative and she gave an entertaining and informative account of her elective period at the Department of Forensic Dentistry at Melbourne Dental School. The title of her talk was "2D-3D comparison of a portrait with a plaster mask" and showed results of attempting to identify an unknown portrait with only a 19th Century plaster mask to work with for the project. Her work is to be published in the Sands Cox journal Aesculapius next year. Here we see Zehra presenting her work and also talking to the Vice President of the Society, Hugh Edmondson (former Professor of Oral Surgery at Birmingham). Birmingham Christmas Market Michelle retires
------- Hong Kong Dental Council Visit Birmingham Scientists lead the Perio way ------------- New MSc Students start October 2010 Upen wins award Half Way through the term Dental Students Win Awards at Navratri Dance Competition ----------------- Thirty Years Later!
The reunion took place in Staff club and the meal was excellent. It was immediately followed by talks from Prof Lumley, Head of School, and Dr Rock. Philip set the scene and took everyone back to what was happening in 1980, whilst Dr Rock took the year group back to what life was like in the Dental School from 1976 to 1980. Following the speeches there was a group photograph and then it was time to chat away into the early hours and remember the good times at Birmingham. --------------- Cement and Concrete ------------------------- Monterrey conference inspires Birmingham Delegates Dental Group Schools present at U21 were Melbourne, Birmingham, ACTA, UBC-Vancouver, Korea University, Hong Kong, Tec de Monterrey. September 2010 BSP Scientific Meeting 23-24th September 2010
---------- Memory Lane for the Year of 2000 DDU Dentist Teacher of the Year Award Giles Perryer writes: Dentsply -----------
Cofton Park, Birmingham Retired Professor goes Fancy Dress The week has come to an end and it is like we have never been away. Professor Thomas Dietrich arranged a treat for Friday lunchtime. The Alex McGregor lecture theatre was packed with students and staff who listed to Dr Michael Bornstein, an oral surgeon from Bern, Switzerland. The title of his lecture was “Cone beam computed tomography in dental medicine: Indications and limitations”. It was informative and well illustrated providing much information on this new and exciting imaging technique. So here we are back at the start of a new Academic Year and it seems we have never been away. Students return today so we expect the building to become very lively. 1st years are now 2nd years, 2nd years are now 3rd years and so on it goes. It will be fun to hear what they all got up during the break, especially the 4th years where many of them come back from their electives. They are now into the serious business of being Final Years and that will sober them up a little! By the end of the week it will seem as we have never been away from the place and that the holidays were just a figment of our imagination. However I do like it on the first day of the new term, the excitement and the noise that permeates around the corridors. It is what a dental school is all about our students and staff working together for the benefit of our patients. Let us see what the New Academic term brings to everyone and we hope that it will be very successful for everyone in the building. Ted Harrington
Hope you are having a great Holiday and that Santa has been good to you. We have had many presents at the Dental School in 2010 and look forward to what next year will bring.
Merry Christmas!
Good result for the students but disastrous for the Staff. The Christmas Quiz showed who were the real brains behind the School. Report to follow later!
Thanks to Marina Tipton for the Photographs
Here is a picture where you will not want to look down! Prof Walmsley raised £1,000 for St Mary's Hospice by abseiling from the roof of Star City, Birmingham. It was 36m to the bottom. Yes that is a Father Christmas outfit as well.
If you want to see more pictures then take a look at the Facebook pictures.
Prof is still looking for sponsorship and wants to thank everyone who encouraged him to do this daredevil event.
The Generation Game was the theme for the College Social this year and the host was Damien Walmsley, kitted out with the appropriate Gold Sequined jacket with his glamorous assistant Jane Steele from Cancer Studies.
There were 5 teams with names ranging from Research and Destroy, The ZX spectrums to Three Crackers and the Turkey. Games include decorate the Yule Log and wrap the parcel. But the game that really got people going was the decoration of the Human Christmas Tree. After the award of Prizes, Professor Lawrence Young led the Carol singing and then it was back to work. Here we have a few pictures of the event plus Damien and Jane. Well done to all concerned including Clare Wickets, Marketing and Communications Manager for the College of Medical and Dental Sciences.
Good Game, Good Game!
Michelle's leaving party
Festive Freefall
http://www.justgiving.com/Damien-Walmsley
Dear All
I will be taking part in a festive freefall for St Mary’s Hospice on 11th December. My Daughter and I are throwing ourselves off the roof of Star City down a single rope in the centre of the main Hall. My aim is to raise at least £500 if not more for the Hospice.
Also if you are interested then there are still a few places left on the Freefall as well. So please join me in this mad adventure. If you wish to sponsor me then go to the following address;
http://www.justgiving.com/Damien-Walmsley
There will be pictures after the event and I will be descending dressed as Father Christmas
Thanks for any support you may be able to give
Damien
The Dental Student Society Prize for Best overall elective went to Gemma Davies, with a Certificate of Merit to Bryony Edwards.
The Sands Cox society prize For Best presentation went to Zehra Yonel with a Certificate of Merit to James Chesterman
Finally the Examiners nominated Samantha Collier to take part in the The BDA / Dentsply Students Clinician Prize which will take place in Dublin early next year.
It was an enjoyable day and the following is a complete list of students and their projects together with a group picture before the event.
Miss G Davis
The use of MuGard and Caphosol in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
Mr A Steventon
Investigating dental sleep medicine in Boston and the need for awareness amongst general dental practitioners
Miss B Edwards
A study to determine the utility of an objective online periodontal risk and disease scoring algorithm in evaluating periodontal treatment outcome.
Miss G Kaur
Tensile strength of laser welded and soldered co-cr joints
Mr J Chesterman
The attitudes towards computer guided surgical stents and cbCT scanning for implant placement within dentistry.
Miss S Collier
A comparison of the attitudes and management decisions of periodontal specialist on perimplantitis between the UK and Australia
Mr S Merali
Investigating oral health of 7 to 11 year olds in a school in Kibaha, Rural Tanzania
Miss J Morris
A Study to asses whether teaching by virtual reality simulators are more successful than phantom head teaching for preclinical dental students
Miss N Patel
Infection control policies and procedures in a temporary dental clinic in Thailand
Miss Z Yonel
Introduction to Forensic Odontology
Miss M Pajpani
A review of the management of oral surgery patients in Ladakh, India. September 2010.
Mr D Newman
The Management of Facial Trauma
Mr A Din
Who can see you? A look into the photography world of confidentiality, copyright and privacy.
Miss A E Holden
A timeline of cleft lip and palate care focussing on dentistry in the multidisciplinary team
Birmingham University’s School of Dentistry Professor, Trevor Burke, has been selected to join a team of leading dentistry experts on the judging panel for the 3M ESPE Student Dentistry Awards 2010-2011. There are three categories – the Award for Innovation, the National Award for Innovation and the Award for Intercalated Studies. Funding ranging from £300 (354 EUR) to a bursary worth £3500 (4130 EUR) is available to be won.
Professor Trevor Burke says: “These awards offer Birmingham University’s School of Dentistry students a fantastic opportunity to receive additional recognition for their talent and innovation. I look forward to reading the entries and meeting the winners.”
For more details on the awards programme, visit 3M ESPE’s new dedicated student website 
Professor White reports that a successful partnership venture with Hereward College in Coventry continued last week, when she took ten second year students to visit as part of the Disability Studies module. There was plenty of time to look around facilities at the college and to discuss all aspects of life and learning for residential students. Our host students are hoping to go to university soon and will come to visit the Birmingham campus next term to get more of an insight into university life. We would like to say a big thank you to staff and students at Hereward for making us so welcome.
The Christmas market opened last night in Birmingham much to the delight of everyone who lives here. It was not too cold that it was possible to stand out for a drink and a bite to eat. The shops have lots of presents and other goodies on display. Maybe we will see you there over the coming weeks.
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Postscript to DDU teacher of the Year
Birmingham delegates turned up in force to support Professor Damien Walmsley for the finals of Teacher of the Year. Whilst Damien did put up a tour de force with his PowerPoint celebrating the success of Birmingham Dental Students, the award went to Stephen Lisney, Professor of Physiology at the University of Bristol. He used Hula Hoops to demonstrate the jaw reflex and showed a great interaction with the audience. Well done to Stephen and to Bristol who also won the Dental Care Professional of the Year with Niki Rogers. Also thanks to the Dental Defence Union and Dentsply for organising such a successful day.
Not to worry Damien was able to rush back to see Gorrilaz playing at the NIA with members of his boyhood heroes the Clash as backup musicians to Damon Albarn. After the concert it was a chance to see Birmingham getting prepared for the German Christmas Market opening and the city is already looking very festive.
Michelle Shortall has been at the School of Dentistry for over 33 years and today was her last working day – tomorrow she is retiring. However this does mean that she will be able to spend more time with her husband, Adrian. Michelle will be missed. As a way of thank you the School held informal drinks and cake with the girls but she will be returning in December for a more formal gathering and presentation.
Good Luck and Best Wishes for a very Happy Retirement.
The Dental School were pleased to welcome a visit from the the Hong Kong Dental Council. This visit came about due to the close ties between the School led by Professor Trevor Burke and the Council. The visiting team consisted of Homer Tso (Chairman), Joseph Chan (Registrar), David Sun (Council Member & Education & Accreditation Committee Member) and Raymond Lee (Examinations Committee Member). The team met with Professor Philip Lumley, Director and Head of School, Professor Deborah White, Director of Education and Dr Mike Milward, Project lead on School QA. This was followed by a visit of the school and the opportunity to view the award winning Ecourse and also tour the meeting. The picture shows the Hong Kong council team with members of the School of Dentistry.
A pretty scene in Segovia near Madrid, Spain gave Iain Chapple and Paul Cooper the opportunity to both lead and contribute to discussions on "The Biology of Periodontal and Peri-implant Diseases" organised by the European Federation of Periodontology. The aim was to increase the knowledge base of the basic sciences and novel therapeutics in this rapidly expanding area of Periodontology. The meeting was held at the Parador Nacional de La Granja in Segovia - Spain, November 7-10 with the outcome of the discussions to be published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology early in 2011. There were leading researchers from around Europe and we have a few pictures of Paul and Iain relaxing in the evening after the day's work.
Your Blogger wishes to extend his thanks to Professor Philip Preshaw (Newcastle Dental School) for the Photographs
Trevor Burke is shown here with the latest intake of students on the School of Dentistry’s highly successful MSc in General Dental Practice. If you are a practitioner and interested in joining the course at Birmingham then contact the School or University via the website to obtain further information.
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Upen Patel received an Excellence in Teaching award at a dinner that took place at Winterbourne House on University Campus. At the meal there were award winners from across the University and each one received their certificate from Prof David Eastwood Vice-Chancellor. After the presentations the Vice Chancellor gave a speech explaining the importance of teaching and its necessity to provide good quality education. Here we have a picture of Upen receiving his award from the VC. Well done Upen from the School of Dentistry.
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It is the start of half term for many people but the School is open for business and this is a bumper blog for the start of the week
First off did you take part in the Birmingham Half Marathon well our Head of School, Phil Lumley did and his time was a credible 1:26:22. This meant he was 9th in his age group! (You need to ask him which age group that was). Rob Mew, our triathlon hero and final year dental student has not posted his time yet on Facebook. Any other times or even pictures please send them into Your Blogger. Phil Lumley and his fellow marathon runners have once again postponed the dental hospital car park resurfacing. Road closures and diversions due to the Birmingham marathon meant that they could not guarantee delivery of the materials. So the excitement on the car park mounts!! I will have pictures ready for you to show you our state of the art car park when it gets resurfaced. Space 41 will still be there.
Gabrielle Stanley, lecturer in Paediatric dentistry, reports on another reunion this time for the year of 1971 who has met every year since they qualified in 1971. Any other reunion years hold a similar record.
Iain Roe, Part time lecturer and Head of Firm, is pleased to announce the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth Isla Roe, weighing 7lb 9oz yesterday. Mother and baby are both well. What a lovely picture and congratulations from the School
More Birmingham success,
Ana Poveda, Specialty Dentist in Oral Medicine is shown standing by her poster at the European Association of Oral Medicine (EAOM) meeting at Central hall in London. This was apparently the world’s largest Oral Medicine meeting ever. Ana had previously won the British Society for Oral Medicine junior’s prize which funded her attendance at EAOM. Her poster was on a family of 3 siblings who had salivary and lacrimal gland hypoplasia possibly related to FGF-10 gene polymorphisms. Well done Anna
Students from the Universities of Birmingham and Aston gathered together with local residents from the Birmingham area to celebrate the Hindu festival of Navratri. A night of good music and dancing was had by all. For two of our dental students, Aarti Shah & Keshvi Patel (3rd year), it was extra special as they were selected by the judges for the awards of best female dancer and best overall dancer of the competition. Many students from the Dental School attended and supported this community event and all should be applauded for their community spirit.
The picture above shows Aarti Shah & Keshvi Patel at the end of the night wearing traditional gujarati dress and holding traditional dancing sticks (dandia).
The Sir Arthur Thompson Charitable Trust organises a 30 year dental reunion and on Friday night it was the turn of the Year of 1980. There was a large turnout from the year and as always there was a lot of talk as people got to find out what everyonelooked like after so many years. Other questions includde what they were doing, how were their families and were they still working! 
Mike Hofmann, a Lecturer at the Biomaterials Unit here at the School of Dentistry, was one of the organisers of the 30th Cement and Concrete Science Conference 2010 which was hosted this year by the University of Birmingham. Mike reflects: “It was a tremendous –albeit sometimes stressful- experience organising a research conference. More than 30 speakers plus poster presenters in two days with over half of them from international institutions as far away as Brazil and Australia illustrates the truly international character of that area of research. For the first time in its 30 year History one of the five conference sessions was dedicated to highlight advances in the field of cementitious biomaterials for dental and orthopaedic application. It was amazing to see how similar the material science behind cements used in civil engineering and cements used for dental application actually is.” The picture shows Mike Hofmann with Mr Sheikh, a PhD student from UCL, who won the Agar Scientific Prize for Best Micrograph in a presentation.
The School of Dentistry is present at the Health Sciences Universitas 21 conference hosted by Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico. The strength of this University network is based around an interdisciplinary approach bringing together Medics, Dentists, Nurses and other health care professionals. The programme for the conference provides an opportunity for debate after presentations on themes focusing on Health care matters that are topical and relevant to everyday teaching, research and clinical care. It is a century ago that the Flexner report changed how medical education was taught in the USA. The conference delegates were challenged to develop new statements that would provide a basis for Interdisciplinary education for the next 100 years. Other lectures included quality and safety in Healthcare. There was also the opportunity to breakout into subgroups. The dentistry group discussed matters relating to student exchange, educational research projects and the International Dental Student Peer Review Audit Project. The dentistry group is also interacting with the overarching Millennium Goals Project of U21.
The hospitality of the Mexican hosts was excellent and they took great care and effort to ensure that we had a successful conference. One of the highlights was the Mexican dancing from the Aztecs to Cowboy period preformed by the students of the University. The delegates found Monterrey to be a modern friendly city possessing spectacular mountain backdrops, which provided vibrant colours as the sun rose and set during the day.
Martin Ling writes for the Blog
The British Society of Periodontology’s Autumn Scientific Meeting was held at Savoy Place in London and was attended by many staff from the Dental School including Professor Chapple, Mike Milward, Roger Mosedale, Paul Weston, Anthony Roberts and Martin Ling. The meeting started with the Teachers’ Forum on Undergraduate Periodontology where Professor Chapple delivered his lecture “Periodontal Education – consensus view from the European Workshop: scope, competencies and learning outcomes”. Friday’s programme was entitled “Periodontal Treatment in the 21st Century” with lectures from Professor Bryan Michalowicz (Minnesota, USA), Professor Peter Heasman (Newcastle) and Dr Mark Ide (London). During the Annual General Meeting Roger Mosedale was awarded Honorary Membership of the BSP, which is the highest award the Society offers to people who have made a tremendous contribution to the specialty. This award recognises Roger’s continually outstanding hard work, commitment and dedication to teaching Periodontology and Restorative Dentistry at Birmingham Dental School at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This is truly deserved and we wholeheartedly congratulate Roger on receipt of this award. 
Roger Mosedale (centre) with the team from Birmingham including Dr Anthony Roberts, Dr Mike Milward, Professor Chapple and Dr Weston (L-R).
The Millennium Graduation Year held its 10 year reunion at the Hyatt Hotel with a good turnout of students and staff. As soon as you walked through the doors you were back in the year 2000 with everyone finding out what people have been doing during the last ten years since they qualified. There was much swapping and exchanging of stories on all the tables. Speeches from Prof Lumley and Prof Walmsley not only highlighted absent friends but also reminded them all of what they did during their time time as students and how the school has moved on. Comments from the Yearbook proved to be very funny 10 years down the line. After the speeches there was a group photo followed by dancing to those songs that were hits in 2000 into the early hours of the morning.
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Congratulations must go to Professor Damien Walmsley, our regular blogger, who has been selected as one of three finalists in the national DDU Dentist Teacher of the Year competition, sponsored by Dentsply. Students at every dental school send their nominations to the DDU, and many Birmingham teachers were nominated by our own students.
Well over a thousand UK dentistry teachers are eligible for this award. To be in the finals is a splendid reflection on Damien’s enthusiasm and commitment to helping and supporting our students through their challenging degree course.
The finals are on 17th November. To determine the winner, Damien and the other two finalists will have to undertake “Competitive Lecturing” to the great and the good at the Royal Society in Piccadilly. This is followed by a grilling from the judges. Lord Howe will present the award to the winning finalist.
Birmingham School of Dentistry is top of the 2011 league tables, and Damien is one of the many reasons why our recent graduates gave us a score of 100/100. The School send our sincere congratulations to the other two finalists and wonderful teachers, Stephen Lisney from Bristol, and George Aristidou from Kings. Let the battle commence!
The Dental Defence Union
http://www.the-ddu.com
Guardian League Tables 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2010/jun/04/university-guide-dentistry
http://www.dentsply.co.uk
The Pope came to town and two of the Dental School staff were at Cofton Park to greet him. Here we see Prof Walmsley and Dr Hill at the Pope's visit on Sunday. Although it was a little wet to start with, it soon warmed up and everyone had a great time. Always good to see Birmingham on the International Map.
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The Honorary Secretary of the RBSA, John Davenport, will be attempting the daunting task of running the Birmingham Half Marathon to raise funds for the RBSA and to increase publicity for the Society. This will be the first time John has attempted the feat in fancy (artistic) dress and is doing so in the hope that it will increase public awareness of the RBSA. When widespread cuts in arts funding of up to 50% are expected and the fear of a double dip recession is still with us the importance to the RBSA of all kinds of fundraising cannot be overemphasised. Please support the RBSA by sponsoring John. You can ring the RBSA donations hotline now on 0121 236 4353 and donate by credit card, or alternatively download the form and complete the tear-off slip and return it to the RBSA with your cheque.
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Friday lunchtime treat
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Welcome back
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It is with deep regret that the School announces the sad news of Ted Harrington’s passing away, Pauline was by his side. Ted will be remembered by us all for the cheerful selfless help he gave us over many years in the workshops supporting Research and Education. He also played a major in our IT development in the early days. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Pauline and Ted’s close friends and family at this time.
The funeral will be held on Friday 3rd September 2010 at 2.00 p.m. at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium, Tamworth Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 6LG. Instead of flowers, the family have asked that you consider making a donation to St. Giles Hospice. There will be a collection box at the Crematorium which the undertakers will look after and deliver to St. Giles Hospice.
On a somewhat lighter note, Pauline’s nephews are producing a book about Ted which will no doubt reflect the enthusiastic, likeable and cheerful man that he was.
The School of Dentistry
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