BSSPD Conference 2013

The 60th BSSPD conference 'Wear Necessities' took place on the 25th and 26th of March at the Sage, Gateshead.

The theme of tooth surface loss certainly seemed popular and attracted a record number of delegates; so much so that as we exceeded the capacity of the conference venue we had to turn away many late applicants.

The first day of the conference presented a line up of invited speakers who took delegates through all aspects of tooth surface loss; starting with Professor Jimmy Steele who discussed the prevalence of the condition and anticipated future trends based on current data. It was reassuring to hear that while many of us who work in secondary care and receive many referrals for this condition, the data from the general population suggests that tooth surface loss is not as wide spread as our perspective might sometimes suggest. Nonetheless it is a condition that is here to stay and indeed increase in prevalence as our population demographics change.

Next came Professor Graham Chadwick who delivered a hugely comprehensive and amusing lecture which covered the aetiology and measurement of TSL. Professor Chadwick touched on the role of eating disorders in the aetiology of this condition which was seamlessly followed by Dr Caroline Reynolds, Consultant Psychiatrist in Eating Disorders, at the Richardson Eating Disorder Service of the Newcastle Trust. Caroline presented an excellent overview of eating disorders with exceptionally helpful advice on how to best manage patients who we suspect may be suffering from an undiagnosed eating disorder.

Our final speaker before lunch was the first of the 'double act' Rees-Youngson! Professor Rees, aka 'enamel tickler' provided us with a thorough and persuasive evidence base in favour of a minimal preparation, adhesive 'Dahl approach', and left us heading off for lunch eagerly anticipating the entrance of the 'Tooth Slayer'.

The Sage and their staff provided excellent facilities and support to the conference and lunch time saw us gathering on the balcony overlooking the Tyne and its many bridges. A great vantage point to enjoy delicious food whilst chatting with colleagues and visiting a small but exclusive trade display.

For many speakers the after dinner 'slot' can be considered difficult, as post-prandial snoozes have a tendency to dull the enthusiasm of the most ardent delegate. However, a snooze was never going to be an option for the delegates of this years conference as 'tooth slayer' Callum Youngson took to the stage. Callum had been given the brief of challenging the current trend of conservative adhesive approaches and he achieved this with an enthusiastic and humorous presentation that did indeed challenge us all to consider alternative approaches to treatment planning when appropriate.

Next we were treated to the eloquence of Dr John Whitworth. It was difficult to imagine how the subject of endodontics and tooth wear was going to deliver anything new to our understanding but John, as ever rose to the challenge and made us all stop and think about our endodontic management of the worn tooth. Finally the day was brought to a close by Mr Francis Nohl talking about wear in the third dentition- implants. The last talk of the day was as interesting and exciting as the first.

A quick dash back to the hotel and change into evening clothes saw over a hundred delegates, including a dozen or so past presidents gather at the Sage for the conference dinner. A pre-dinner drinks reception of champagne whilst looking over the now beautifully illuminated Tyne and its 'blinking eye bridge' led into a sumptuous dinner. The after dinner speeches were stream lined, and concluded with a very different after dinner entertainment - a clever and witty presentation of the derivation of medical terms from Dr Sean & Dr Dondo, followed by a presentation of the Heraus Kulzer undergraduate essay prize - Hannah Kerr.

The evening concluded with a toast to the society and gifts of appreciation to our administrative officer Kirstin, our previous administrator Linda, who had helped enormously in the arrangements for this conference, and last but by no means least to conference organiser Rob McAndrew. Also a rare opportunity to gather together a number of the BSSPD past-presidents for a photo!

Tuesday morning was the day for prize presentations. Two excellent case presentations were delivered for the prestigious Schottlander prize - both detailing the management of a tooth surface loss case. The standard of case management and presentation skills was truly exceptional and the judges had a difficult decision in choosing Gareth Calvert, currently of Glasgow Dental Hospital to be the recipient of this years prize.

Then followed six presentations for the Presidents Prize; covering a range of topics from complete denture impression techniques to cutting edge research into measuring tooth wear the speakers were without exception of a truly excellent standard. Although somewhat biased I can genuinely say that I have never seen such a consistently high standard of presentations, and again a difficult decision for the judges with the Presidents prize eventually being awarded to Paul Hyde of Leeds Dental Institute for his presentation of an RCT of complete denture impression materials.

In the parallel poster session presenters competed for the Schottlander poster prizes. There were a fantastic range of topic areas on display varying from challenging and novel case reports and audit topics through to astrology! Again a wide array of subject matter but a uniformity in the high standard. The winner of this years poster prize was Neha Behl of the Royal London Hospital for her audit of referral quality.

Whilst prize contenders battled it out in the main auditorium, three workshops were being lead by Peter Briggs & Co, Giles McCracken and James Field. The workshops allowed attendees to become 'up front and personal' with articulators, to consider how vertical dimension change can be managed and also to talk through individual cases with a panel of experts.

The conference concluded with the President, Dr Janice Ellis, handing over the newly revamped chain of office to the incoming President Brendon Scott; the chain of office now reflecting the Society's new name. Brendon provided the audience with a taster of next years conference "Aesthetics in Prosthodontics" which will be held in Dundee on 14th & 15th April 2014.