British Society of Prosthodontics Annual Conference 2017 report.

The Society’s 2017 Conference was held at Etc. Venues, 155 Bishopsgate in the City of London on 6th and 7th April. The modern facilities, the fine presentations, the camaraderie and the social opportunities made this an exceptionally memorable Conference.

The Conference was opened by Professor Harold Preiskel of King’s College London, a member of the Society for over 50 years. In an illuminating presentation, Professor Preiskel reviewed the progress in Prosthodontics over the last half century, setting recent development in the Specialty in its historical context. Professor Preiskel was followed by Professor Petra Gierthmuhlen from the University of Dusseldorf whose presentation on the use of digital technology to produce predictable outcomes in complex rehabilitations demonstrated impressive clinical results.

After coffee, Dr Rupert Austin displayed exemplary digital dentistry supported by research evidence behind digital impression capture. He also includied the limitations of these methods. In contrast, Professor Simon Rogers of Edge Hill University focussed on the impact of Head & Neck cancer on patients’ quality of life in his excellent presentation.

Over lunch and during the coffee breaks the posters of the Schottlander Poster Prize and President’s Poster prize competitions were electronically displayed across the main hall of the venue. Electronic poster boards save competitors the cost and difficulty of producing and transporting physical posters. The Society ensured that poster boards were set up between trade stands throughout the two-day event.

After lunch, the Conference ran parallel sessions with the main programme in the auditorium and the Schottlander Oral Prize presentations in the separate lecture room. The standard of the Schottlander Oral Prize presentations was excellent and attracted enthusiastic Conference attendees.

Dr David Bartlett presented recent research and clinical developments in relation to tooth wear and Dr Rebecca Moazzez spoke about gastro- oesophageal reflux disease and its consequences for our patients. These interesting presentations complemented each other perfectly.

During the coffee break the poster competitions were judged.

Dr Subir Banerji then displayed a range of beautiful composite restorations of tooth wear cases. From the University of Leeds, Dr Andrew Keeling’s authoritative presentation assessed the evidence of accuracy and inaccuracy of digital methods. He concluded that digital methods are accurate enough at present for crowns and small bridges, but probably not for cross arch bridges.

This session was immediately followed by the Annual General Meeting.

The Annual Conference Dinner, held in the Institution of Engineering and Technology, was a very enjoyable event.

Friday’s Conference also involved parallel sessions with the parallel sessions with the main programme in the auditorium and the Dental Foundation and Early Practitioner groups in the lecture room.  

The Dental Foundation and Early Practitioner morning and afternoon sessions consisted of rapid, fifteen-minute expert presentations covering topics of designed to capture the interest of early career dentists.

Professor Charles Goodacre of Loma Linda University, California, demonstrated powerful new digital teaching tools for Prosthodontics to the Conference. Dr Serpil Djemal spoke with authority on the need for Restorative Dentists to be aware of the consequences of, and treatment for dental trauma.  The final presentation of the morning, by Dr Alon Preiskel, was a comprehensive review of the research evidence and outcomes in relation to immediate or delayed loading of dental implants.

Over lunch, Early Practitioner Poster Prize entries were on display and were judged.

Starting the afternoon session, Professor Avi Banerjee shared a glimpse of the future of the profession with his excellent and informative presentation on minimum intervention Dentistry. Professor Tim Newton engaged the attendees on the impact of changes to appearance resulting from Prosthodontics on patient wellbeing, on patient self-esteem and on the perceptions of others.

A short question and answer session concluded the formal conference.

Dr Philip Smith was inaugurated as the President for 2017 -2018 and he invited everyone to what promises to be an excellent Conference in the magnificent setting of St George’s Hall Liverpool.

The success of the Conference was as a result of major inputs from Council members, our administrator Mrs Kirstin Berridge and the support of the membership.