Every year we say it but every year it seems to be more true; Christmas just seems to have come round faster than ever. Regular readers will know that traditionally I put forward a suggestion for the seasonal present for the dentist who has everything and 2014 is no exception.
Some few yuletides ago my tip was to buy a print copy of the Dentists’ Register as it would be its last year, thereafter being online only. Those of you who took up the idea (yeah right) might now actually be pleased as we stand on the edge of the decision from the Judicial Review of the GDC’s Annual Retention Fee (ARF) proposals brought by the BDA. Pleased, because it might be the beginning of the end of our current regulator in its present form. That of course depends on the outcome but, if it goes against the GDC then the ARF increase will have to be at the least postponed. I’m not sure I can suggest a better present for the profession.
New Year pop tax
Whatever unknowns 2015 will bring, one significant change is certain. The citizens of Berkeley, California have overwhelmingly approved the US’s first ‘sugar tax’ which will come into effect on January 1, and raise the cost of fizzy and energy drinks by one cent per ounce. The measure will raise the cost of a can of Pepsi from $1 to $1.12, a large Coke from McDonalds will go from $2.29 to $2.61 and two litres of fizzy drink will go from $3.99 to $4.75. The tax does not apply to diet drinks.
Meantime, a study also in the US, has shown that signs warning shoppers how much exercise they need to do to burn off calories in sugary drinks could encourage healthier choices. The research on teenagers’ purchasing habits found they bought fewer sugary drinks and more water when the signs were up. The most effective sign said it took five miles to walk off the 250 calories in a sugary drink.
…to be Merry
If all the talk of diet and exercise starts to leave you cold at this festive time then I have one piece of warming news. Dentists at Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany, noticed that the longer athletes train each week, the more likely they are to have caries and restorations; and the further they run, the greater the danger. Apparently in 2009 the International Olympic Committee discovered that a third of its athletes had suffered tooth erosion, and a survey of competitors at the 2012 Games in London found that a fifth had oral health ‘so bad it had spoilt their training’. So, at last you have an excuse to be a couch potato at least for a few days later this month.
All of which leaves me just enough space to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 from all of us here at The Dentist.