Sam Jethwa, president of The British Association of Cosmetic Dentistry, explains what dentistry can expect from its conference this year.
The process of becoming BACD president has lasted more than 10 years so for me, it’s not been a huge whirlwind. It’s been an amazing experience and I have a board that are so committed – everyone works hard and cares so much about the members.
It’s been an amazing year and I just wish everyone the best of luck going forward. I know that the decisions and the things that we’ve put in place this year, through my presidency and with the help of the board, are going to secure the future of the academy. I think they will bring back something that has, I would say, been lost a bit over time, which is the uniqueness of The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.
Compared to every other academy out there, we are the largest in Europe, and have been going for a really long time in terms of membership numbers for cosmetic dentistry – and it’s our job to bring that energy back in the conference this year as well.
Nurturing environment
The conference is really the pinnacle of what the BACD is all about. For me, it is about getting together with friends and getting into the network again. What’s new? What are people doing? It’s about all of these important bits that we learn as young dentists. I’m the youngest president ever and that happened because it’s such a nurturing environment – and the conference really is the absolute pinnacle of that. It’s about the things we learn are over coffee with someone who’s been in dentistry for 20 years, or when we go out and we have our socials – there’s a lot of non-structured stuff that is of huge value.
It’s also about education. It’s always been a three-day conference, split into hands on sessions on the Thursday, which is something that BACD prioritises – access for dentists in large numbers to learn from speakers from all over the world. Those sessions are incredible value. This year we’ve got Dr Sandra Hulak from Hong Kong, one of my mentors, showing her injection molding technique, which is great for treating tooth wear patients who can’t afford full ceramic work.
We also have a battle of ceramic versus composite. It’s going to be very exciting; Jason Smithson, a household name in dentistry, and Bob Winter from the US. It’s the age old battle of what’s bettetr, direct or indirect. It’ll be a live session on stage, and I’ll be moderating, keeping it balanced! It’s a very dynamic, exciting and different way of presenting a conference – more of an experience rather than just lectures.
To get involved or for more information visit www.bacd.com.
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