The hygienist and therapist symposium proved a massive hit at this year’s Dentistry Show.
Like previous years at the Dentistry Show, the 10-year anniversary event was very much geared toward preventive dentistry, focusing on various methods by which patient care could be improved.
Building on this, the two-day symposium, chaired by the president of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT), Helen Minnery, and immediate past president of the British Association of Dental Therapists (BADT), Fiona Sandom, delved deeper into some of the main causal factors behind common patient complaints, looking at what can be done by hygienists and therapists to minimise these risks.
Food for thought
Maher Almasri kicked off the star-studded event by exploring the concept of tissue regeneration therapies in dentistry.
Delegates came away from his lecture with a better appreciation of the principles, theories and safe application of bone and soft tissue regeneration to enhance tooth and implant survival – an area that is becoming increasingly pertinent to the dental team.
Implants were also explored by Phil Ower in his lecture titled, ‘Implants in perio patients in practice’, with other sessions available to hygienists and therapists in the Periolounge and ADI Implant Theatre. 
Among other important topics discussed in this year’s symposium were smoking and nutrition, which were covered by leading lights Deborah Lyle and Juliette Reeves respectively. As Deborah highlighted in her lecture, the number of people smoking cigarettes in the UK may be decreasing, but there are still additional tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and shishas that need to be addressed. As such, the session provided much food for thought for hygienists and therapists hoping to tackle smoking in their practices.
As for Juliette’s exploration of nutritional manipulation of chronic inflammation, delegates were treated to an interesting session on how nutrition can affect the aetiology of periodontal disease. For those who were fortunate enough to attend the lecture, there was a lot of information to take away, but with much luck they will be able to put Juliette’s advice into practice – poor or imbalanced dietary intake is, after all, one of the most prevalent issues in dentistry.
Interesting insights
With so much ground covered over the two-day symposium, both hygienists and therapists seemed pleased with this year’s lectures and learning outcomes.
When asked about their experience at the end of the event, hygienist and therapist Carly Bateman, and hygienist Judy Griffiths said: ‘We’ve been to a selection of lectures, and for the most part they’ve been very helpful. As always, it’s been good for CPD and there’s lots to take away back to the practice.’
Other sessions included in this year’s programme that knocked the ball out the park were: ‘Enhanced prevention for the 21st century DCP’ presented by Amanda Gallie, president of BADT, and ‘Periodontal maintenance or periodontal negligence?’ by Deepak Simkhada.
During these lectures, these two renowned professionals provided interesting insight into their respective fields, with large audiences in attendance to hear what they had to say.
Amanda’s lecture examined some of the various technologies and imaging systems that are currently available to determine the effectiveness of alternative methods in caries detection. While Deepak, who rounded up the 2017 hygienist and therapist symposium with a bang, discussed the fine line between periodontal maintenance and periodontal negligence and what dental care professionals can do to enhance their periodontal treatment planning capabilities.
Latest innovations
Outside of the symposium, delegates had the opportunity to discover the latest oral health products, technologies and upcoming training courses out on the trade floor, as well as dip in and out of other exciting show features including the Core CPD Theatre and Compliance Clinic. ‘The trade floor has been very good this year – I’m pleased I came!’ commented Karen Sweeney, dental hygienist.
If delegates’ feedback is anything to go by, then the hygienist and therapist symposium – and the Dentistry Show 2017 as a whole – were resounding successes yet again.
The Dentistry Show returns next year on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 May at the NEC in Birmingham.
For further details, visit www.thedentistryshow.co.uk.
