Annual Conference 2009
The 56th Annual BSSPD conference was held in the week before Easter (06-07 April) at the Hilton Hotel in York and was the first of a new two day format for the BSSPD. The conference was opened on the Monday by the President, Professor Mark Thomason, who expressed his delight in being able to present a superb line-up of internationally regarded speakers that would help the meeting re-visit the precepts of the Montreal Consensus Conference in 2002 and go on to develop the BSSPD York Consensus Statement on Implant supported Overdentures.
Monday's programme was a symposium on Mandibular Overdentures, at which the presenters offered a synopsis of the research available on the impact of edentulism on patients and efficacy of implant-supported mandibular overdentures in the edentulous mandible. Emphasis was given to both qualitative and quantitative research based on patient-centred outcomes of treatment. The team of speakers comprised Professor Jocelyne Feine from Montreal, the leader of the 2002 McGill Consensus meeting and Associate Editor of the JDR; Professor Ignace Naert from Leuven - (both recipients of The IADR Distinguished Scientist Awards for Prosthodontics), Professor Frauke Müller from Genève, Professor Paula Moynihan, Dr Janice Ellis and Dr Cath Exley from Newcastle. The speakers presented both qualitative and quantitative data that strongly supported the concepts of the use of implant supported mandibular overdentures as the minimal standard of care for edentulous patients.
Above: The President of the BSSPD, Professor Mark Thomason with the speakers from left to right Dr Janice Ellis, Professor Paula Moynihan, Professor Jocelyne Feine, Dr Cath Exley and Professor Frauke Müller.
The draft consensus statement was developed by the presenters and the BSSPD Council and was made available to all members via the Society's website. It was modified in the light of the symposium discussion following the presentations and members' feedback. The final version of the Statement will be published in the BDJ and in the autumn issue of the BSSPD newsletter, as well as being available on the BSSPD website.
Monday's programme concluded with the annual conference dinner which was perfectly rounded off by the former Postgraduate Dean of the Northern Deanery, Mr David Smith, with a splendid after- dinner speech and toast to the Society.
Tuesday morning featured presentations for the Schottlander Oral Prize followed by a parallel session of member's oral presentations and entries for the Schottlander Poster Prize.
The Schottlander Oral Presentation Prize was awarded to Kushal Gadhia from Birmingham Dental Hospital for his presentation "Is botulinum toxin effective and safe? A systematic review of randomised controlled trials". Kushal Gadhia received his award from Dr Brian Schottlander.
The Schottlander Poster Presentation Prize was awarded to Sam Rollings from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for his poster "A novel technique for the fabrication of a speech bulb appliance - a case report."
Above: Sam Rollings (right) receiving his award from Dr Brian Schottlander (left).
Parallel sessions took place once again during Tuesday afternoon with a poster session and an educational session. The educational session, in-keeping with the conference theme, focused on the appropriateness of delivering training in implantology within the undergraduate curriculum. We were very fortunate to have Professor Jocelyne Feine from McGill University, Montreal, to shed light on the Northern American experience.
BSSPD Awards 2009
The BSSPD makes a number of awards to undergraduates and dentists on an annual basis. These are made to enable individuals to carry out clinical research projects, undergo further training or attend the conference. The presentation of these prizes took place at the end of Tuesday afternoon. In 2009 the awards made to date are as follows:
President's poster
The winning clinical poster entry for the President's prize was Hiba Al-Diwani, an undergraduate from Leeds Dental Institute, for her poster entitled "Providing support for the pontic of immediate replacement, resin bonded fixed partial dentures that use the extracted natural tooth: a clinical report".
Heraeus Kulzer Undergraduate Essay Prize
This prize was awarded to Ambika Chadha, an undergraduate student from Kings College, London for her essay entitled "Discuss the evidence for the social value of prosthodontics".
BSSPD New Graduate Award
The assessors agreed to make the award to three applicants this year - Kathryn Durey, Upen Patel and Ayanthi Wickramasinghe. They all came to the annual conference. Kathryn presented a poster entitled "A review of the activity of a multidisciplinary clinic" and Upen presented his poster entitled "Slippy skin and lazy bones: A prosthodontic rehabilitation".
BSSPD Research Award
The panel of judges recommended that the award be given to Wouter Leyssen who works at Kings College London. The award will support a study into the role of clinical dental technicians in the current dental team.
Presentation of Awards from 2008
Elective Prize 2008
The winner of this award was Freccia Williams, an undergraduate from Birmingham Dental School. She presented a poster of work carried out during her elective on marginal gap corrosion of dental implants.
Coltene Student Bursary
The winner of the 2008 Coltene Student Bursary was Eamon Howard-Bowles from Cork Dental School who presented his study entitled "The clinical performance of resin-bonded bridges delivered by undergraduate dental students: a retrospective view".
The inauguration of the new President, Dr Craig Barclay, followed the presentation of the prizes. He gave an exciting insight into the 57th Annual Conference planned in Stirling from 27 to 29 March 2010.
Above: The new President, Craig Barclay (left), receiving his chain of office from the outgoing President, Professor Mark Thomason (right)