University opens £1m dentistry skill centre

Sep 27 2007 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

A NEW £1.1m training centre in Merseyside is integral to solving the nation’s shortage of dentists, a top government adviser said yesterday.

England’s chief dental officer, Barry Cockcroft, made the comments as he officially opened the Liverpool School of Dentistry’s operative skills unit.

The suite is part of a £6m investment at the Pembroke Place school, which will increase student dentist places at the University of Liverpool from 275 to 400 by 2009. It includes 46 dummies called phantom heads, which enable students to perfect their clinical skills on a life-like replica human mouth.

The suite also features digital X-ray imaging connected to each unit so students can watch clinical demonstrations as they learn.

Mr Cockcroft unveiled a plaque at the unit and tried out new equipment, which he said was “worlds apart” from the methods he used more than 35 years ago.

“It is a superb facility and is part of the Government’s measures to address the skills shortage in dentistry,” he said.

“This unit, along with other investment, will mean an big increase in graduates by 2014. It is integral.

“It will help us nurture more home grown talent and we will not need to rely so much on people coming in from abroad, although migrants will still be an important section of the workforce.

“Things have changed a lot since I studied to be a dentist. This equipment is fantastic.”

The investment programme by the Department of Health and the Higher Education Funding Council for England will transform the unit into one of Europe’s largest dentistry schools.

It will also include five sedation suites and five oral surgery suites, new tutorial rooms and new laboratories.

Second year student, Emily Shift, 19, said: “This suite is the reason I chose Liverpool over other universities. It is amazing.

“It really helps us all learn and practise, and it is so nice to be in a new facility.

“We will be coming in here once a week I think at the moment, before we start performing procedures on real people, so it is an excellent way to prepare.”

Lecturer Dr Kathryn Fox said: “It just makes the teaching so much better. When we used to teach, we would stand in the middle of 12 students, with them trying to watch what we were doing. This way we can beam the images to them directly on the screens.

“Every student will use this facility throughout all the years and it is so versatile. We are all very excited by it.”

lizawilliams