The last bite

02 May 2012
Volume 28 · Issue 5

Suits you

Everything, it seems, has a plus and a minus. No sooner have we been exhorted to dump the classic 'white coat' than research suggests otherwise. Widely seen as something of a turn-off, rather old-fashioned and a potential added negative for anxious or phobic patients, the white coat has been in something of a decline in recent years. In its stead has been a plethora of smart designs and a rainbow- array of colours from the delicately pastel to the screamingly bold.

However, researchers in the US have now discovered that wearing a white coat gives the brain a boost. Lab jackets were found to increase brain performance when worn by volunteers who sat a series of mental agility tests and those wearing white coats made half as many mistakes as those who wore their own clothes. On the up-side, if you do lose your job through lack of coloured-clothed, mental agility, the research into 'enclothed cognition' (their term not mine) indicates that donning a suit for an interview could give you an advantage!

One body or two?

The obsession with regulation of the profession is in danger of tripping itself up as well as everybody else. Witness the recent spat over what the General Dental Council does and what the Care Quality Commission does.

A letter to the Daily Telegraph claimed that CQC inspectors 'are required by law to waste astonishing amounts of dentists' and their own time. This pushes up the costs of British dentistry while diverting the CQC from more pressing necessities'. The chief executive of the CQC, Cynthia Bower, wrote in response that the inspection role of the CQC differed from that of the GDC in that 'the GDC ensures dentists' fitness to practice. The Care Quality Commission checks the quality of services and the outcomes that patients experience'. She claimed that 'while many dental practices maintain high standards, we have found major concerns in practices we have inspected, and have taken action to protect patients'. Perhaps she is too busy to have read the first two words of the GDC's logo 'Protecting patients'. No duplication there then.

Adolescent agony

As if adolescence didn't bring enough angsts, orthodontic treatment arguably being one of them, researchers have now added yet another hurdle. Investigating the effect of garlic extract on the formation of Streptococcus mutans colonies on orthodontic wire (somewhat esoteric I have to say but perhaps garlic extract has more of a currency in Korea where the study was done) they have discovered that far from having its usual (apparent) anti-bacterial effect it actually makes matters worse.

The garlic extract enhanced the S mutans attachment on the orthodontic wire meaning that as well as having fixed appliances and smelling of garlic the teenagers also produced more harmful plaque into the bargain. Quite apart from playing havoc with their oral health, I can't imagine that it did much for their social lives either. I hope the eventual smiles were good – and fresh.

 

March Winner

The winner of the March prize of Beverly Hills Formula products is Chris Edwards of Altrincham for the caption: ‘He's the CQC inspector, he's mugging up before he starts!’