The evening was an opportunity for Alumni to visit the Hospital, meet old friends and take a tour of the new Lincoln Place building. 

On the night, we also presented the Perpetual Teaching Awards to Dr. Colette Boothman (pictured to the left) and Professor Liam McDevitt and the Dockrell Bursary was awarded to Dr Anne O’Connell.

Please see the link below for additional photographs from the night and we look forward to seeing you at the next Alumni evening.

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These Scholarships are funded by GSK and will allow the students to pursue a research project over the summer vacation. The three students were selected from a panel of applicants following a competitive application process. Each will receive a generous grant from GSK to support them during course of their research project. The students will work with established research groups in the hospital on projects ranging from periodontal microbiology (Dr. Gary Moran), MRSA research (Dr. Anna Shore) and oral cancer (Dr. Jeff O’Sullivan).

From left to right the people in the photograph are as follows:  Dr Anna Shore, Dr Jeffrey O’Sullivan, Dr Jacinta McLoughlin, David Naughton (prize winner), Professor June Nunn, Paul Hatton (GSK), Rebecca Doyle (prize winner), Dr Gary Moran, Professor Derek Sullivan, Ronan O’Leary (prize winner)

This prestigious award provides promising undergraduates with hands-on experience of research during the summer vacation, with the aim of encouraging them to consider a future career in research. This is the first time such an award has been made to an undergraduate student in the School of Dental Science. Alero will carry out research to identify a newly described group of bacteria associated with periodontal disease.

We are delighted to announce that four, final year students were nominated for the Academy’s Odontological Section Medal. Ciara Ni Uallachain was awarded the Odontological Medal for her work. It was very heartening to see the interest that the Royal Academy of Medicine has in our students and all the students, Shawn Shelly, Davina Graham and Michelle Dunne were complemented for ‘their polish and expertise’.

Congratulations to all involved!! 

Picture from left to right: Dr Roberta Swanwick (Honorary Secretary of the Odontological Section of the RAM)  Shawn Shelly, Davina Graham, Ciara Ni Uallachain, Michelle Dunne, Mr David Ryan(President of the Odontological Section, RAM)

He delivered a fascinating lecture entitled ‘Scar Wars’ on his research into wound healing and scar prevention.  He then shared his vision for Science Foundation Ireland with academic staff and postgraduate students which generated lively discussion. 

He was given a tour of the DDUH’s research facilities and then met staff and students at a reception in the Common Room where he received a presentation from Professor June Nunn, Dean of Dublin Dental University Hospital.

The Dental School is delighted that five of the 2nd year students  were awarded ‘Schol’.  Scholars are students who have demonstrated exceptional knowledge and understanding of their subjects and are elected annually as a result of an examination held earlier in the year. Congratulations to Aisling, Ji Ding, Lilia, Nusaybah and Olivia.  In the attached photo with the students are the Dean of Dental Science and other members of staff.   From Left to Right, Dr McLoughlin (Director of Teaching and Learning), Professor Nunn (Dean), Dr Frain (Year Co-ordinator), Olivea Morcos, Lilia Collazo, Nusaybah Elsherif, Aisling Cant, Ji Ding Ho, Dr Moran (Director of Research), Professor Flint (Head of Division of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology).

The deadline for the online application process has been extended to Tuesday, 1^st May, 2012.

This 16 month training programme has been specifically designed to meet the needs of the general dental community.  Successful completion of this programme, commencing September 2012, will lead to a Diploma in Dental Nursing (Trinity College Dublin) and will permit entry onto the Voluntary Dental Council Register for Dental Nurses in Ireland.

This programme offers an opportunity to those currently employed as Dental Nurses to achieve a formal award.  It is modular in design and delivery will be supported by video-conferencing and distance learning methods.  The programme will be offered in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Tralee and Limerick (regional centres will be available pending the required number of students applying for these centres).

Application forms and course outline can be obtained from http://dentalnurse.learnonline.ie

For further information, please contact:

The Dental Nursing Administrator, Dublin Dental University Hospital, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2.

Phone 01 612 7315; Email:  dentalnursetutor@dental.tcd.ie

For more information on alumni events please click here

The Visitors were the President of the Dental Council, Dr Eamonn Croke, Professor Malcolm Jones, formerly Pro Vice Chancellor in the University of Wales, Cardiff and Dean of Dentistry, Cardiff Dental School, Dr Marjoke Vervoorn, Director of Education, Academic Centre for Dentistry,  Amsterdam and Mr David O’Flynn, Registrar, Dental Council. Accompanying the visitors were three observers, Ms Susan Matheson, Director of the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada, Professor Claude Lamarche, member of the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada and Dr Robert Broadbent, CEO of the Australian Dental Council.  It is hoped that once the observers are satisfied with the undergraduate programmes in Dental Science in the two dental schools, they will enter into an agreement with the Dental Council to  allow reciprocal recognition of the programmes.

The photograph shows Dental Council visitors, observers and DDUH staff:  (L to R): Dr Robert Broadbent (Australian Dental Council), Dr Jacinta McLoughlin (Director of Teaching and Learning), Professor Claude Lamarche(Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada), Dr Marjoke Vervoorn (ACTA), Professor Malcolm Jones (University of Wales), Professor June Nunn (Dean), Dr Eamon Croke (President, Dental Council), Mr David O’Flynn (Registrar, Dental Council), Ms Susan Matheson (Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada), Dr Michael O’Sullivan (Clinical Director).

Image courtesy of Dr Osama Omer.

This type of contamination was linked to the recent tragic deaths of three babies in a Belfast Maternity Hospital. The findings were published online on 28th February 2012.   

The print copy of the article is scheduled to appear in the April 2012 issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection (Volume 80, 4: 288-292).

The Health Research Board (HRB) and Microbiology Unit at Dublin Dental University Hospital funded this research which has proved to be a revolutionary approach to eradicating bacterial contamination. The system is also more cost effective than current practice and reduces maintenance requirements.

Hospital washbasin taps and output water are reservoirs of bacteria in a hospital environment which can lead to grave outcomes. It has been estimated that hospital-acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia originating from hospital water systems kills over 1400 patients annually in the USA. Severely ill patients and patients in high dependency units are particularly vulnerable to this type of infection.

‘Hospital water systems and washbasin taps are frequently contaminated with biofilm-containing ‘opportunistic bacteria’, especially P. aeruginosa. We developed the new water treatment system and field-tested the technology for over a year in the Dublin Dental University Hospital’s clinics,’ explains Professor David Coleman, Principal Investigator at Trinity College Dulbin.

‘At the start of the study, the team measured the amount of bacteria in hot and cold water from the hospital clinics’ washbasin taps. The hot taps regularly yielded an average bacterial density of 482 colony forming units (cfu) for every millilitre (ml) of water, while cold water taps had 5022 cfu per ml. The predominant bacterial species identified were Pseudomonas and related species, including P. aeruginosa.

‘We cleaned and disinfected the water distribution network at the Dental Hospital, then developed and installed a novel automated water disinfection system to eradicate microbial contamination on a continuous basis. The system involved automatically treating supply water with Ecasol*, a powerful environmentally-friendly disinfectant generated by electrochemical activation (ECA) of a dilute salt solution using an ECA generator manufactured by Trustwater, Clonmel. Electronic probes constantly monitor the levels of Ecasol in the water network and adjust the levels via automated pumps when contamination is encountered.

For 54 weeks we measured the microbiological quality of water from five sentinel washbasin taps in one of the hospital’s clinics by laboratory culture. The bacterial counts for hot, cold, and tank water during the study period were 1 cfu/ml, 2 cfu/ml, and 0 cfu/ml, respectively. Bacterial contamination of taps was virtually eliminated.

‘Our results demonstrate that by systematically destroying bacteria throughout a hospital’s water distribution network, and in the supply water, we have a consistently effective and safe means of ensuring that hospital water and washbasin taps are no longer reservoirs of contamination that can lead to patients becoming infected in hospitals. It builds upon previous work** we did to solve the longstanding problem of biofilm contamination of dental chair unit water lines and output water,’ concludes Professor Coleman.

The research also points to significant cost efficiencies while maintaining excellent microbiological control of water quality. Installation costs for Ecasol-generating equipment, pumps and probes were approximately €35,000, annual running costs are less than €1000 and annual maintenance costs are approximately €3000. These running costs are significantly lower than current water treatment systems which are less efficient. The research team plan to assess the efficacy of the system in a larger hospital in the course of the research project.

‘The Health Research Board invested in this project because it was clear that it would deliver practical and cost effective benefits, both for patients and the health system. We look forward to seeing the technology being adopted in order to improve patient safety and reduce running costs,’ says Enda Connolly, Chief Executive, HRB.

The manuscript for the study is being published ahead of print.  The final, edited article is scheduled to be published in the April issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection. (Volume 80, 4:  288-292).

M.A. Boyle, M.J. O’Donnell, A. Miller, R.J. Russell and D.C. Coleman. 2012. Control of bacterial contamination of washbasin taps and output water using Ecasol: a one year study. J. Hosp. Infect. 80,4: 288-292

Notes:

*Ecasol has been tested and shown not to be harmful for human contact.

** M.J. O’Donnell et al. 2009. J. Dent. 37:748-762.

The research team included Professor David Coleman, Dr. Maria Boyle, Dr. Mary O’Donnell and Ms. Aisling Milller at Trinity’s School of Dental Science, Division of Oral Biosciences, (http://www.dentalhospital.ie/research-2/oral-biosciences/) together with Dr. Ronnie Russell at Trinity’s Department of Microbiology.