A £78 million dental school and hospital has opened its doors in London’s East End where half the five-year-olds suffer tooth decay.

East London Advertiser: State-of-the-art clinic at new Royal London Dental Hospital. Photo: David MirzoeffState-of-the-art clinic at new Royal London Dental Hospital. Photo: David Mirzoeff (Image: Archant)

The ribbon was cut yesterday at the five-storey Royal London dental complex in Whitechapel, which houses the most technologically-advanced facilities in Britain.

Some 400 students are being trained every year in the facilities, part of the London University’s Queen Mary college, now ready to handle 70,000 appointments annually.

But dentistry involves “more than simply fillings, crowns and braces,” Queen Mary’s Dr Philip Taylor points out.

“Procedures such as oral rehabilitation and facial reconstruction are complex,” he adds. “It’s crucial to continue training new dentists with the most up-to-date technology.”

East London Advertiser: State-of-the-art clinic at new Royal London Dental Hospital. Photo: David MirzoeffState-of-the-art clinic at new Royal London Dental Hospital. Photo: David Mirzoeff (Image: Archant)

The hospital is a boost to an area where 46 per cent of five-year-olds in Tower Hamlets have tooth decay—the highest percentage in London—while rates of adult oral, head and neck cancer are also above national averages.

Queen Mary’s Dean for Dentistry, Prof Mike Curtis, said: “Our local communities face some of the most challenging health needs of anywhere in Britain. The new dental hospital has a key role for the community.”

The complex has 111 dental units with high-tech digital operation and lighting, 22 self-contained rooms for complex treatment, state-of-the-art facial scanning equipment, digital imaging technology, patient simulation interactive teaching equipment and 32 operating microscopes.

New laboratory facilities also have computer-aided design and manufacturing technology.