Essex Dentist to Take Charge of Olympic Dental Team
A dentist from Chelmsford, Essex has been given the responsibility of leading the London 2012 dental team.
Tony Clough will be responsible for managing the care of more than 40,000 people at the games, including athletes, their coaches and back-up staff and Olympic officials. After working at the Beijing Games in 2008, he is expecting to treat around 700 people during the course of the event.
Mr Clough said that the most important issue would be delivering urgent dental care for people affected by abscesses and broken teeth. The organising committee will pay for all treatments and athletes will not be expected to foot the bill if they require treatment.
Mr Clough and his team will be based at Olympic Park for the course of the games and there will be two satellite centres in Weymouth and Eton where the sailing and rowing competitions are taking place. Dentists will be in attendance at a number of the events, including boxing, judo, basketball, hockey, football and handball.
Mr Clough said that in minor cases, dentists are able to make repairs very quickly and this enables players to get back on the field of play after a short period of time.
During the nine-week period over the summer of 2012, dentists will provide routine dental checks, as well as emergency treatment, with athletes being prone to dental problems, often because they consume a lot of energy drinks, which have very high sugar content.
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