On 25 April 2024, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) were delighted to welcome the meeting of the British Society of Dental Maxillofacial Radiology to the College.
As part of their event, RCSEd also hosted the John Hutton Memorial Lecture. John Hutton was a dental radiologist who sadly passed away in 1999. A fund in his memory has been created, which supports a triennial lecture in dental radiology.
This year, the lecturer was Professor Reubens Spin-Neto, who is Professor of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology in Aarhus, Denmark. We sat down with Professor Spin-Neto to discuss his what inspired his talk, as well as his thoughts on the future of dental and maxillofacial radiology.
Were you aware of the College before?
"I was not aware of the College, but I knew it was a very historic place. I visited your museum this afternoon, which I very much enjoyed. It so happens that my wife is an anatomy curator, so I posted about my visit on my Instagram. It is also my first time in Edinburgh. The thing that surprised me about the College is the number of well-known names associated with the College. They create the evidence for what we do as a profession, and I believe that the College is a very important place. A lot of the most important guidelines we normally cite in dental and maxillofacial research are connected to people from here."
What inspired your talk today?
"Speaking at a memorial lecture is an honor, because you speak in the name of someone who dedicated themselves to education. You speak through someone else. Of course, I had the topic already on my computer, but I think the motivation speaking here is totally different. I was not only thinking about my research, but also thinking about the family and what type of knowledge would be spread in their name. I am also talking through Dr Hutton and that is what made it different from everyday lectures."
If there is one thing you would like the audience to remember, what would that be?
"I am talking to radiologists, but I am trying to persuade them not to use it. Going from low dose to no dose, is about thinking about the future. In terms of technology, we are already there. I hope a lecture like this can inspire people to think about the future, so I think it is a good channel to put forward that idea."
How do you see the future of dental and maxillofacial radiology?
"I think we have to progress in a way that we can offer safer, and more accurate diagnosis to people. Of course the use of radiation is criticised. It is necessary that we find ideas and modalities that make visible what was invisible to use before. We need to go into areas where we can show what we are missing. Nothing has 100% accuracy – at present, we don’t see all the tissues so we need to develop techniques and tools that are more accurate."
If you could say anything to the you of 20 years ago, what would you say?
"To myself of 20 years ago - I would say keep studying, don't mind sleeping less, because it is worth it! One fun fact about me, is that I wanted to be a surgeon and then I went to Denmark to finish my PhD. Then I decided to be a radiologist because I liked implantology. They told me to finish my PhD, and then I started a new one and went into radiology, and that is how I entered this field."
At the event we also spoke to John Hutton's widow, Rev Dr Anne Attenborrow, and gathered her feedback on the Lecture.
How did you find the lecture this evening and what do you think your late husband John Hutton would have thought of the lecture?
"The lecture was wonderful, it is fascinating to see how dental radiology is moving into MRI. I actually remember when MRI first came out, I was looking at it for its use for children, and in those days you had to be so careful. I had to take everything metal off me, but now we are learning so much more, and can be so much more relaxed. I think John would have appreciated it, because one of his main interests was reducing the dose of x-rays, and he was very involved in planning the training programme so that primary care staff could reduce radiation doses. The lecture in 2015 was based on the idea that you could move on from radiation, and now here we are. I was actually thinking, when I was listening, that John would really have wanted to be there.
I would really love for the money to be used to bring people of this kind of quality to the meetings. If we can get people like these, I think it's absolutely brilliant. Our friend Howard Moody was the RCSEd Dental Dean at the time John passed away. I feel John would have loved the idea of his passion for dental and maxillofacial radiology and his relationship with the College coming together."