Annual Conference 2006

Report by the President Prof McCord

The venue for this year's conference (the Society's 53rd) was the Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh. Situated adjacent to station, historical sites and the shops near Princess street and the HighStreet, this proved to be a most convenient location.

The conference was opened by Professor emeritus Roy MacGregor, a President of the Society in 1971-1972 who introduced a series of Masterclasses under the general title of Evidence and Excellence in Prosthodontics. The six experts and their general topics were:

• Dr John Besford: Quality Complete Dentures
• Professor John Hobkirk: Hyppodontia
• Mr Martin Kellachar: Bleaching
• Professor Fraser McCord: Advances in Denture Technology
• Mr Steve Sharma: CEREC
• Professor Callum Youngson: Managing Failure in Fixed prosthodontics

The symposium ended with a round table discussion. The day was rounded off by a whisky-tasting and ceilidh, both of which were enjoyed by all who attended.

On the Monday morning, there were six quality entrants for the prestigious Schottlander prize. All who listened to the presentations agreed that the quality of the presentations was excellent and the quality of the Powerpoint displays was particularly praiseworthy. The judges admitted that they had a difficult task in choosing a winner and this year awarded the prize to Dr Helen Craddock from Leeds Dental Institute. Helen's topic was "Associations between clinical parameters and the prevalence of occlusal interferences in unopposed posterior teeth.

The afternoon session was allocated for poster presentations and for the trade exhibition. Once again the trade show was well supported. There were 14 posters on display and the Poster prize was awarded to Dr Peter Howell and his colleagues from UCL Eastman Dental Institute.

The Annual General meeting was held at the end of the day. Perhaps the most important outcome of the meeting was the acceptance of the constitutional changes recommended by Council, in particular the opening of membership to those members of the dental team with an interest in dentistry but who may not have a dental degree.

The conference dinner was held in the superb setting of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. A most enjoyable meal was followed by a superb toast to the Society by Professor Ronnie laird, President of BSSPD 1996-1997. After the dinner, Dr. Paul Geissler conducted interested parties through the museum.

There was an excellent attendance on Tuesday morning from the outset for the final session of scientific papers; the final paper was a most interesting presentation on potential links between denture hyperplasia and helicobacter pylori infections, by Professor Loster and colleagues from Cracow, Poland.

The Conference closed with the installation of the new President, Dr. Nick Jepson, who extended a warm welcome to all interested parties to next year's conference in Newcastle -upon - Tyne.