England on look out for their next tooth fairy

THE dentist’s chair has a number of sporting connotations – not least the conspicuous consumption of alcohol by Paul Gascoigne in the prone position – but at Twickenham it has always meant emergency dental work carried out by the RFU’s dental surgeon Bill Treadwell.

Treadwell, below, a former hooker for Guy’s Hospital, Wasps and England, will be stepping down today after 31 years as the duty dentist at Twickenham, tasked with looking after the broken, chipped and missing teeth of England’s warriors.

As a highly-trained medic and one of the first on the bloody scene he has also undertaken much of the stitching for cuts and lacerations. Indeed he is known as the best stitcher in the business, both fast and efficient. And for both teams.

Throughout that period he has also undertaken dental checks of all departing England rugby teams for insurance purposes and for the last 20 years provided a similar service for the Lions. Incoming tourists also benefitted from his expertise with any out-of-hours work willingly undertaken.

On match days he prepares the dental equipment, sterile packs of instruments and the local anaesthetic. The A&E consultant, Andy Smith, the lead doctor in the medical room, holds a meeting for all medical personnel 30 minutes before kick-off. He will have already spoken to both team doctors and briefs everyone on their duties.

“It can get a bit hectic, but we work as a team and help each other’’ said Treadwell. “Quite often an orthopaedic surgeons will assist me and on other occasions the role might be reversed. It has been so enjoyable getting to know so many colleagues, players and officials.”