Dr Elaine Halley attends advanced training course in California

Dr Elaine Halley recently trained with her dental heroes Pascal and Michel Magne. This was a hands-on course in San Francisco, and she is the only Scottish dentist to have attended. Pascal is a dentist and Michel is a dental technician - they are brothers from Switzerland who now work at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

They teach the ‘biomimetic’ concept – which is about using the modern and scientifically proven methods of today to restore teeth as closely to nature as possible – biomimetic means mimicking nature. What this means for patients is being very careful and conservative to preserve as much natural tooth structure as possible, and only using materials that mimic the natural properties of teeth ie keeping metal to a minimum. Although metal is very strong – it can be too strong for the natural tooth structure and can cause cracks and fractures in the surrounding teeth. Porcelain and white filling materials are much more friendly to the tooth but need to be bonded in correctly.