Michael Watson

Michael Watson

Author at Dentistry Online

Michael Watson qualified 50 years ago and started his career in the Royal Army Dental Corps. Retiring in 1979 he set up a general dental practice in Manningtree. In the 80s he became secretary of the GDPA and was the first editor of its journal the General Dental Practitioner. Moving to the BDA in 1991 he spent the rest if his career as a political adviser and editing BDA news. Since retiring he has continued writing and is a regular contributor to dentistry.co.uk and Dentistry magazine along with being the news correspondent for both. Michael now spends more time at a time-share on Gran Canaria and reducing the kid’s inheritance on cruise ships.
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Tooth whitening prosecutions

Are the sanctions for undertaking tooth whitening by non-dentists tough enough, Michael Watson asks. From time to time the General Dental Council (GDC) issues press releases telling of its success in prosecuting some unregistered ‘tooth whitener’, often working in a beauty salon. The latest such instance came from Redditch in the West Midlands, where Sally Commander…

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What can dentists do about the crisis in children’s tooth decay?

Dentists have an obligation to address the epidemic of decay in children, Michael Watson says. Dentists have a ‘key role to play’ in addressing the epidemic of decay in English children, leading to dental extractions being the most common reason for hospital admissions among those aged five to nine. This was said in the House…

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NHS dentistry letter published in The Telegraph ‘unhelpful’

Tony Kilcoyne’s letter published in The Telegraph was unhelpful to both dentists and NHS dentistry, Michael Watson believes. Last week dentistry hit the headlines with a letter published in The Telegraph, and signed by 400 dentists saying that the NHS system was unfit for purpose and was leading to a ‘third world’ service. The lead author and organiser…

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Recommending dentists’ pay

The DDRB should go back to recommending dentists’ pay, not contract values, Michael Watson says. In February 1949 the House of Commons debated dentists’ pay. When the NHS had been set up six months previously the Government had underestimated both the level of demand for dentistry among the population and the willingness of dentists to…

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Dental contracts in the Chancellor’s sights

Are NHS dental contracts being considered the same as other corporate contracts the Government issues, Michael Watson questions. Now dentists seem to be in the Chancellor’s sights. He has always been there of course, as once a year under all Governments he writes to the Review Body to tell it that ‘times are hard’ and it must be moderate…

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Should we have a sugar tax?

Michael Watson compares the public opinion over fluoridation and a sugar tax. Public opinion is an odd thing. Suggest that children’s teeth would be protected by adding one part per million of fluoride to the drinking water and people are up in arms, meetings, petitions, lobbying you name it. If you live in Scotland, just…

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The insanity of the GDC

The GDC is doing nothing different but expecting different results, Michael Watson says. As I sat at yesterday’s General Dental Council (GDC) consultation, listening to its deliberations on next year’s annual retention fee (ARF), one quote kept going through my mind. Traditionally, though possibly not accurately, attributed to Einstein, it runs: ‘The definition of insanity…

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Calls for strike action from the dental profession

Prominent members of the dental profession should know better than to call for strikes, Michael Watson says. In a couple of days the British Medical Association’s (BMA’s) ballot for industrial action by junior doctors will close. Shortly after it will announce if the proposed days for ‘withdrawal of labour’ on 2, 8 and 16 December will go…

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What’s on the horizon for dentistry?

Michael Watson warns dentists to look at the black cab, restaurant and hotel industries to see what could be on the horizon. An article that caught my eye over the summer concerned French restaurant owners who are urging the Government to ban ‘meal-sharing’ websites. The site Vizeat allows French households to host home-cooked dinners allowing tourists…

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DDRB starts examination over dentists’ pay

Michael Watson discusses the complications the DDRB, the BDA and the Department of Health will face when examining dentists’ pay. As the clocks go back, winter looms and the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB) starts its examination of the evidence about dentists’ pay. Last week the British Dental Association (BDA) put in its bid for…

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Using the In Practice Prevention programme to improve oral health

The creation of the In Practice Prevention programme is encouraging, Michael Watson says. News from Ireland last week that 10,000 children under 15 are being hospitalised every year for dental extractions under general anaesthetic struck a chord. Although the figures are reportedly five times higher than in the UK, we cannot be complacent at our…

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Dementia – how much do you know?

Michael Watson discusses the changing needs of patients with dementia. A visit to an excellent symposium at the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK on dementia and oral health opened my eyes to how little I knew about a condition that may well affect many of us as we grow older. Much of our attention…

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The inverse care law

Those that most need dental care are least likely to receive it, Michael Watson believes. My attention was recently drawn to a 1971 paper in The Lancet by Julian Tudor Hart (no I hadn’t heard of him before either). It was called ‘the inverse care law’ and suggested that those who most need medical care…

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Michael Watson calls for a ‘rubber windmill’ exercise to test the prototype contracts

Is it time for another ‘rubber windmill’ exercise, this time to test the prototype contracts to destruction, Michael Watson asks. No I am not losing my marbles; there was such an exercise carried out in 1990 to test the then novel purchaser/provider system for delivering NHS care. It was commissioned by the late Alasdair Liddell…


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