I am delighted in our November issue to be able to celebrate the role of dental hygienist as well as illuminate the role of public health dentistry. This issue embraces all members of the dental team in one way or another, in particular highlighting what your associations do to advance your roles. September is conference time, of course, and this issue brings reports of three different meetings.

Cornwall is an area facing considerable challenges. It is the second poorest region in Northern Europe and dental access has been problematic for a while. I was delighted to learn that there is a social enterprise in operation, the Smile Together initiative, and even more delighted that the Managing Director, Paul Critchley was happy to write a feature article about their work. You will find his inspiring article on page 25.

The November content also serves as a reminder that there are challenges which reverberate down the ages. One of these challenges, which hit the headlines in the autumn, is reaching the hard to reach. Back in World War II, many of the working men who were essential to the war effort were in this category and using the maxim: “You can't fight if you can't bite”, the RAF took the step of setting up a school for dental hygienists. You can read more in Mike Wheeler's article on page 29.

Our news pages bring some insights into the work of the Office of the Chief Dental Officer. Sara Hurley made herself available for all three days of the BDIA Showcase and I was there for BDJ Team to do some listening in.

As ever, there are some really positive updates on outstanding achievements by individuals and in our last issue before Christmas, I am very happy to bring news of the amazing work that is done by dental team members who give up their time at Christmas.

I hope that the two months ahead are as stress-free as it's possible to be. And if you do have some on your hands, do let me know if you have an article or letter to share. My email is below.