With people queueing round the block to try to get a National Health Service dental appointment, it seems the powers that be are trying to curry favour with overstretched dental academics.
Michael Martin, of Liverpool University, has scooped a knighthood for services to dentistry, while Farieda Fortune, from Queen Mary, University of London, and Nairn Wilson, from King's College London, have both won CBEs for their work in dentistry.