Primary Dental Care Strategy Consultation Document December 2005 (PDF 223 KB)

Primary Dental Care Strategy Consultation Document December 2005

Dental Branch Annual Report 2004/2005 (PDF 629 KB)

The second Annual Report of Dental Branch

An examination of male and female odds ratios by BMI, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption for cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx in pooled data from 15 case-control studies.

BACKGROUND: Greater tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption and lower body mass index (BMI) increase odds ratios (OR) for oral cavity, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers; however, there are no comprehensive sex-specific comparisons of ORs for these factors. METHODS: We analyzed 2,441 oral cavity (925 women and 1,516 men), 2,297 oropharynx (564 women and 1,733 men), 508 hypopharynx (96 women and 412 men), and 1,740 larynx (237 women and 1,503 men) cases from the INHANCE consortium of 15 head and neck cancer case-control studies. Controls numbered from 7,604 to 13,829 subjects, depending on analysis. Analyses fitted linear-exponential excess ORs models. RESULTS: ORs were increased in underweight (<18.5 BMI) relative to normal weight (18.5-24.9) and reduced in overweight and obese categories (>/=25 BMI) for all sites and were homogeneous by sex. ORs by smoking and drinking in women compared with men were significantly greater for oropharyngeal cancer (p < 0.01 for both factors), suggestive for hypopharyngeal cancer (p = 0.05 and p = 0.06, respectively), but homogeneous for oral cavity (p = 0.56 and p = 0.64) and laryngeal (p = 0.18 and p = 0.72) cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The extent that OR modifications of smoking and drinking by sex for oropharyngeal and, possibly, hypopharyngeal cancers represent true associations, or derive from unmeasured confounders or unobserved sex-related disease subtypes (e.g., human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal cancer) remains to be clarified.

Dental Branch Annual Report 2003/2004 (PDF 269 KB)

The second Annual Report of Dental Branch

Dental Review August 2003 (PDF 344 KB)

Workforce Planning Review August 2003

Oral Health Strategy - General Dental Services (PDF 397KB)

Equality Impact Assessments

Review of the Dental Workforce (PDF 545 KB)

Final Report July 2002

Oral Health Strategy - General Dental Services (PDF 121 KB)

Equality Impact Assessments

Oral Health Strategy - General Dental Services - Preliminary Consultation Report (PDF 144 KB)

Equality Impact Assessments

Sample preparation for two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

The choice of sample preparation protocol is a critical influential factor for isoelectric focusing which in turn affects the two-dimensional gel result in terms of quality and protein species distribution. The optimal protocol varies depending on the nature of the sample for analysis and the properties of the constituent protein species (hydrophobicity, tendency to form aggregates, copy number) intended for resolution. This review explains the standard sample buffer constituents and illustrates a series of protocols for processing diverse samples for two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, including hydrophobic membrane proteins. Current methods for concentrating lower abundance proteins, by removal of high abundance proteins, are also outlined. Finally, since protein staining is becoming increasingly incorporated into the sample preparation procedure, we describe the principles and applications of current (and future) pre-electrophoretic labelling methods.

Equality Impact Assessments - Oral Health Strategy - General Dental Services - May 2001 (PDF 72KB)

In 1998, a new law came into force in Northern Ireland – the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Section 75 of the Act places a legal obligation on each public authority to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity: • between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation; • between men and women generally; • between persons with a disability and persons without; and • between persons with dependants and persons without. åÊ