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The close of one year and the beginning of another is often a time for reflection, with high hopes for the year ahead as we contemplate the year just past. Reflecting on a year of Dental Update, the articles, webinars and editorials of the previous year often tell a story of the current status of dentistry nationally and internationally, giving an indication of advances made and change that's needed.
January 2024 saw an Editorial asking whether change in legislation, meant the ‘End of the road for dental amalgam’;1 however, as the year progressed there was some dispensation, and realization that patients in often under-represented groups might be the ones to be affected most negatively by this legislative change. As the year progressed the November Editorial saw a discussion on “Amalgam, trams and Northern Ireland’,2 highlighting the law of unintended consequences, with 92% of dentists in Northern Ireland being concerned that a ban would have reduced NHS activity and increased costs. This all comes at a time when NHS dentistry and those involved wait expectantly for contract reform, with the hope that the year ahead will bring some change and improvement in access to dental services.
Of course, legislative change affects all of the dental team and, against a backdrop of aspirations for further use of technology and artificial intelligence in dentistry, it is often difficult to know where to turn to keep abreast of developments clinically, legislatively and politically. Fortunately, Dental Update remains a ready resource for such updates, whether its case reports, reviews of current techniques, or access to information related to political shifts in dentistry, it's all there. In line with this, the January issue opened with a fascinating article on ‘The use of artificial intelligence in third molar surgery risk assessment’,3 with the November issue featuring an article on ‘Navigating the digital frontier: transforming endodontic diagnosis through digitization’.4 Many other similar articles written by experts in their fields, highlighted advances across all clinical disciplines. While the long wait continues for contract reform, technology and its use in dentistry develops at an increasingly faster pace. How this will be used to improve outcomes for patients will be a fascinating journey in the year to come with a recent webinar, ‘Five months of Labour in power: what's the impact on NHS dentistry?’ giving a very useful insight into the challenges for the year ahead.5 Coupling glacially paced reform with the innovative laser speed of advances in technology will be an intriguing journey, hopefully reaching some sort of conclusion in 2025, but watch this space. It is a strange dichotomy where on one hand, accessing dental care for very many remains a challenge, while on the other, we are discussing using AI advances in dentistry to improve outcomes for patients. Hopefully in the year ahead there will be some movement in contract reform and use of technology to impact on those left carrying out DIY dentistry.6 For those carrying out DIY dentistry, contract reform and AI use in dentistry seem a long way away off.
While the written word remains central to Dental Update, use of technology impacts the wide range of webinars, and this year has been quite incredible with the ‘Who needs evidence” series having over a 1000 colleagues registered per webinar. Interest in self improvement and continuing professional development remains extremely high, which is testament to the enthusiasm and commitment of colleagues across the dental team. This enthusiasm for education and self improvement provides reassurance as we step into the year ahead ready to face the challenges the new year will inevitably bring.
So as the year closes with the December issue, the last of 2024, we all look forward to a restive, festive break, ready for an exciting year ahead. I wish all readers, everywhere, Season's Greetings, and a happy and healthy, and above all peaceful, 2025. I also thank you, the readers of Dental Update, for continuing to subscribe to our journal – I hope that you have enjoyed this year's issues. I also wish to thank the Editorial Board for their input and wisdom, our superb authors for sifting through the voluminous dental literature and telling us what it really means by way of the review articles that they write, our peer reviewers for their comments and advice and, finally, the excellent team at the publishers, led by Rob Yates, Fiona Creagh and Lisa Dunbar, for producing each super issue. Sincere thanks also to Trevor Burke for his support and mentorship as the Editorial baton has been handed on to myself, his expertise and good humour have been much appreciated throughout the year.