Page 16 - RADC 2017

MILITARY MATTERS
Exercise Bellowing Dragon
Major Nick Gibbs, RADC
Ex Bellowing Dragon was a chance for dental teams involved in providing Primary Dental Care in the Land Environment to work out how to provide safe and effective dental care to our patients as the army moves from counter-insurgency to war fighting at a scale. We were joined by Commando and Navy dental teams, who added their experiences and expertise
to the 14 Army Dentists and Nurses that attended.
On the first day we got our hands on
the new Portable Dental Unit and NOMAD X-Ray system. Now instead of three old, heavy and cumbersome boxes to run the handpieces and suction units there will be one lightweight box made by BPR Swiss. With electric motors for the ultra-sonic,
high and slow speed and a tiny compressor for the 3-in-1 tip this should significantly enhance our ability to provide dental care while keeping the logistical burden as low as practical. One capability that was sacrificed was the dental light - so don’t forget your loupes the next time you deploy! NOMAD
II Pro Portable X-ray system has entered service providing Dental Teams with the ability to take intra-oral radiographs, though
not without consideration of the radiation issues of X-rays in tents.
Critical to any deployment is balancing
the ability to treat lots of patients with a
wide variety of dental conditions whilst not having to carry around loads of kit. Major Christoph Harper lead a broad session looking at many of the equipment issues facing us from delicate sterilisers that
don’t travel very well to the difficulties in moving to digital radiography. There was
an interactive session to help inform the Equipment Working Group that is improving the 301 module so that it is suitable for todays requirements. This was followed by Lt Col Woodward-Court who explained why it can be so difficult to influence the wider army and how we can make sure that issues facing deployed dentistry do reach the right people.
On the second day Major Lee Beales discussed how a Medical Regiment job can be a springboard into Staff and Command. While Staff and Command is not for everyone this is an option for some that will provide a varied career for the individual and helps Dentistry to be represented across the Army Medical Services and wider Defence.
The Everest Curry house in North Camp provided an excellent meal and chance to catch-up with old friends and meet new colleagues in a less formal setting. Finally, a wrap up session was run to try and capture the key issues raised over the two days
and how we in the Medical Regiments can provide dental care to our fellow soldiers wherever they are and help to develop the RADCs deployed capability.
14 RADC BULLETIN 2017