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So Prof Banerjee,   I suspect there aren’t many in the dental school who aren't aware of who you are, but when you’re not teaching/terrifying second years, what do you around here? Apart from my past-time of water-boarding students (as highlighted wonderfully in the Comedy Re-view, for which I am honoured as well the appropriateness of the Guan-tanamo orange of St Paul's!), my time is divided between undergraduate (UG) teaching and KCL/GSTT (Guy’s & St. !omas’ Hospitals NHS Trust) administration, postgraduate teaching, national and international lecturing and book writing, laboratory and clinical research into caries, adhesive materials science and minimum intervention/minimally invasive dentistry, supervising clinical trials, advising dental companies on their research strategies, supervising Masters and PhD students and of course, delivering clinical care, particularly the management of complex oral re-habilitation of our head and neck cancer patients as well as treating refer-rals for high caries risk patients.

How did you come to where you are today? In a nutshell, through a great deal of hard work, support from respected colleagues (many of whom taught me at Guy's just a few years ago!), my dear unbelievably tolerant and understanding wife and now my beautiful children and of course, my fair share of luck! Within 3 years of graduating from Guy's 20 years ago, I had completed my Fellowship (FDS), Masters and a PhD. As a Lecturer in Conservative Dentistry I then undertook my specialist clinical training in Restorative Dentistry which led to an Honorary Consultancy and ulti-mately my Chair in Cariology & Operative Dentistry through the Col-lege. I have also maintained sessions in private dental practice since quali-fying.

Do you own 3 copies of Pickard’s, and is the new kitchen finally finished? Of course, and I am now moving my sights onto a new car! ;-) BTW, the 10th edition coming out 2015 - you heard it here #rst!

You must have a fairly hectic schedule, but what part of your job do you enjoy the most? I have the ultimate privilege of working with brilliant minds and kind people (both staff and students), trying to excel at the different aspects of the profession I have outlined above.  Of course I do not get it right all of the time (indeed, some might say, rarely if ever!) but I am learning every day, just like you guys.

Name one mentor you’ve had during your educational and professional career, and why. I have been so fortunate to have a few, some of which are current staff teaching you!  But in this instance, I would probably highlight the late and great John Lowry CBE, an eminent past-Dean of the Dental Faculty, Royal College of Surgeons (Eng.), who was a family friend who introduced me to dentistry as a raw 17 yr old, when I remem-ber fainting during observing my #rst full dental clearance under GA in his operating theatre!!  He was a brilliant oral and maxillo-facial surgeon and, more importantly, a perfect gentleman who always had time for eve-rybody and gave me such pertinent advice and support throughout my whole career.

Where do you see greatest potential for growth and improvement through the new system? Having been involved in the development of this new clinical structure over the past year or so, it is my #rm belief that we are moving forward in the delivery of a much more dynamic, fully rounded clinical den-tal education for our students.  !e opportunity for undergraduates to appre-ciate the responsibility of delivering total care of their patients (both the triumphs and the complexities) rather than individual compartmentalised, often disjointed treatments, is a massive step forward.  !e quality of the teaching and supervision will be more interactive and enhanced between the restorative disciplines, and this can only be a positive for both the students and the clinical teachers alike. Of course, the developments are dynamic and evolving and there will be trials on the way, especially as we have to work under tight #scal control, but if we all work together as a team, these issues will be easily overcome!

What is your vision for St Paul's? Probably exactly the same for the other teams - to develop a community and an environment where  excellence is the core value to be rewarded, students are prepared well to be successful in dental practice and show a willing and eagerness to learn.  We have a great staff body (as do the other Units) and as you know, a state-of-the-art new clinic costing over £800,000! How lucky are we?! Just keep smiling and en-joy the experience...

Borough Market cannot be missed! Whilst feasting your senses in this foodie heaven, stop off at Roast or Maria’s for breakfast. Likewise, #ll your

Special Feature.Follow the Leader – St Paul’s Edition.KCL Dental Institute is entering a new era. In a two part series, we get to know the four brave souls tasked with creating the best four-house school since Hogwarts.

Welcome to the first issue of the Dental Society Newsletter. This idea has been in the works for quite some time, but finally, after much plan-ning, and a lot of hard graft, our editors Luke Greenfield (BDS4) and Jessica Ah-kye (BDS3), and their team have put together something in-formative, fun and just the right amount of classy.

The KCL Dental Society is currently undergoing a serious branding facelift, you may even have noticed the sexy new logo we’re rocking (hope you like the clever use of perio probe markings) designed by Edd Li, BDS 4. Keep your eyes peeled for more changes in the near future, pos-sibly even a new hoodie design and website.☺

This year we’re aiming for more epic events, slicker organisation, and considerably better communication with our members (i.e. you). All I can say is…brace yourselves! (see what I did there? ha…ha…not really funny…never mind.) Enjoy the newsletter!

Sadhvik Vijay KCL Dental Society Student President.

THE KING’S CROWN

Social.Welcome to the Student Capital.You’ve bitten the bullet. You’re paying twice the rent of your mate studying in Aberystwyth, but you’re in the student capital of the world! So don’t stay indoors. Get out there and embrace it! Zareen Ahmed (BDS4) and Nick By!eld (BDS3) provide both fancy and frugal favourites to whet your appe-tite for our great city…

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Submit your story.We are looking for contributing writers, so if you have an idea for an article you’d like to write for us, please get in contact before writing the article.For all communications please email GKTDIKingsCrown@gmail.com

boots with as many free tasters as you can for a cost-free brekkie.

Join the tourists and hipsters alike at the T a t e M o d e r n . Whether you #nd the exhibits inspiring or baffling, it’s well worth a visit. Follow up with cocktails at Madison Rooftop Bar for an incredible view of the city.

Take a stroll down the !ames to the South Bank Centre at Waterloo. Besides the sea of street performers and pop-up exhibitions, the South Bank Centre provides art and theatre, so check what’s on and take a gamble!!e !ames Clipper from Blackfriars pier is a great way to enjoy the views from the river (take your Oyster for a discounted fare). Jump off at the London Bridge pier and head into Hays Galleria to enjoy the bars and atmosphere of Shad !ames. !e Horniman pub is a particular fave, with a riverside terrace and great beers.Every Guy’s student knows and loves Nawaz, the local indian restaurant providing ‘BYOB’ bargain feasts.Nearby Bermondsey Street is packed with bars and restaurants, José being Gordon Ramsay’s favourite tapas bar. Also, get used to drinks at Guy’s Bar and Belushi’s, you’ll spend a lot of time here. Don’t forget to check out Parrallel South, a band comprised of BDS4 students, who play at the Dover Castle every other !ursday - free entry and student friendly prices!

Savvy.A view from the Other SideWho better to share with us their pearls of wisdom than recent graduates? Dan Yar-nold, DF1 dentist and KCL graduate re-"ects on his time here.

What’s it like to be finally qualified and working as a dentist? You’re doing it all on your own now, so you can crack on with

caring for and treating lots of patients, but all the onus is on you, so it’s a big responsibility. It is a big step up, seeing over 15 patients a day, but really rewarding… Oh, and you do a shed load of amalgams!  One way in which King’s changed whilst you were here? !e return of the Dental comedy revue was massive last year. It brought back a long stand-ing tradition of the dental school and was great fun for students and staff alike. I hope it continues for many years to come. Save me a ticket for this year’s show!   

One of your most memorable experiences from King’s? !e GKT ski trip…de#nitely.  It was a great chance to meet lots of new people on dif-ferent courses and probably the messiest week of my life!  

One piece of advice you would pass on to anyone in any year?  1. Don’t shy away from amalgams – you’ll do them a lot in DF1! 2. Get your communication skills down early. It’s the key to success not

only in practice but also in the DF1 interviews (check out the COP-DEND website for tips/criteria)

3. Us dentists are a geeky bunch, but don’t neglect your social life – work/life balance is essential and you’ll look back with regrets if you don’t make the most of your uni years. I certainly have none!

Societies.

Word of MouthWith excitement and anticipation building for the BDSA sports day, Kaly Gengeswaran and Olivia Johnson-King (Dental Society BDSA/EDSA reps) tell us about their exploits from around the continent and beyond.You’ve all heard of !e British Dental Students Association (BDSA), but have you heard of its European equivalent, EDSA? Unfortunately EDSA has gone by relatively unnoticed by King’s College London Dental Students. !is is a shame as the EDSA not only exist to represent and protect the interests of Dental Students, like BDSA, but they also run a range of pro-jects providing great opportunities and experiences for our undergraduates!

EDSA bring together students across the whole of Europe, via huge confer-ences, research opportunities and volunteering projects around the world. Examples include their exchange visiting programmes, research projects and various volunteer work such as SM!LE and the Amchi project. EDSA is your chance to get out of the UK to share and develop dental knowledge whilst having a great time. If this interests you, please #nd additional infor-mation and contact details on the EDSA website (www.edsaweb.org).

!is summer, EDSA celebrated their 52nd anniversary with a 6-day EDSA ’13 and Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) Conference hosted in Birmingham. Students, clinicians and academics from schools across Europe presented advancements within dentistry, research and charity work as potential new courses for staff and students. !e conference in the day was entertaining, but the evening’s events exceeded all expectations. Along with the many great nights out organised by the committee, the Masquarade Ball was by far the best night. It’s fair to say the only encour-agement needed, was to get people off the dance &oor!

We can’t let this article pass by without talking about EDSA’s most exciting and competitive volunteering project, the Amchi Project which takes place in Ladakh, India in August. It primarily involves dental students to travel through the mountains to teach the local Buddhist nuns (the Amchi) about oral healthcare. !ese nuns are heavily relied upon to provide healthcare to the local population, and through our work with them, they can now in turn educate thousands of others in the community about dental hygiene.

Not only is this a unique opportunity to utilize our skills to help those in need, but it was an incredible journey, hiking through the Himalayas to some of the remotest of regions. !is year the project continues to grow, and with our very own Olivia Johnson King as the new EDSA Volunteering Officer we can anticipate a lot of interest of KCL students. For more information regarding this article and the Amchi Project, email dental.society@kcl.ac.uk

Dental Society Events (Sept - Oct) Date

Boat Party 27.09.2013

BDSA Sports Day 11.10.2013 - 13.10.2013

Pulp crawl October (to be con#rmed)

BDS Lecture: Models, Microscopes & Molars 22.10.2013