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T he BDA Conference and Exhibition saw the handover of the BDA Presidency from John Drum- mond to Amarjit Gill. Amarjit qualified in 1981 from the Royal Dental Hospital, London. After working as an as- sociate in eight different prac- tices, he became a principal in 1985, designing and building his own practice as part of a medi- cal centre. In 1992 he became a Partner, relocating to a newly designed practice in the Wolla- ton area of Nottingham where he practises today. Amarjit has significant ex- perience of representing the dental profession. Locally, he has served as Chair of the BDA’s East Midlands Branch and the Nottingham Independent Prac- titioner Group, and as the de- velopment team leader of his Local Dental Committee. On the national stage he has cha- ired the BDA’s Private Prac- tice and Equality and Diversity committees and served as Dep- uty Chair of the organisation’s Executive Board. He is also an invited member of the In- ternational Academy for Dental Facial Aesthetics. ‘Absolutely fantastic’ Speaking to Dental Tribune about the Conference and the year ahead, Amarjit’s enthusiasm for promoting the best in dentistry shines through: “Taking over as BDA President at the Conference in Liverpool has been absolutely fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed the conference for me it has had everything but time for me to at- tend all of the lectures and pres- entations I would have liked to! Of course with having become President at the event I have had a lot of meeting and greeting to do, thank yous to make and loads of presentations to attend. For me this has all been great and I’ve had a fabulous time at the conference, but the reasons I love this event is the various post graduate lectures and this year I’ve missed out. “A big part of the role of be- ing BDA President is ambass- adorial – I’m going to be ex- tremely busy going places at home and abroad representing the BDA and UK dentists. Let me give you an example: I’m shortly off to Las Vegas for a conference, then I have a meeting in Sydney Australia with the Australian Dental Association, following that I am lecturing in Beijing. As you can see I’m not going to be around much!” Impact on oral health As well as being involved with the BDA and practising in Notting- ham, Amarjit is involved in other entrepreneurial activities, includ- ing acting as the spokesman for Dental Xpress (the mobile den- tal unit currently deployed in the Leicestershire area) and more recently as Clinical Dental Direc- tor for Philips Oral Healthcare. “What really impressed me was that Philips want to make an im- pact on the nation’s oral health and as our knowledge about the links between oral and systemic health grow, so the company has the potential to impact on the na- tion’s overall health too.” Amarjit clearly relishes the wider challenges that participat- ing in more than just life in the practice brings. “Being involved in an association such as the BDA lets you develop parts of yourself that you just can’t working as a general dental practitioner. It al- lows you to get out of your com- fort zone. “I am a firm believer in the team approach. I have always found that we are able to do things better together for the good of both patients and the practice. Teamworking is one of the ideals I will be pushing very hard in my role as President this year.” He added: “Huge thanks to my family and my practice team as without their support and understanding I would not have been able to take on this massive task!” Excerpts from Amarjit’s in- augural Presidential speech at the 2010 BDA Conference, Liverpool Arena: The Presidency is the highest honour the Association can be- stow and I am honoured to have been chosen to take on this role. I want to thank the East Mid- lands Branch for nominating me and for the support I have had from colleagues in Nottingham- shire and across the profession. If I had to a single out any one local colleague it’d be Dr Ralph Davies. He pushed me into local BDA involvement and even col- lected me from home, to ensure my attendance. Today that seems a world away from this position of honour as BDA President. I believe that change will be a constant during the next decade. Harold Wilson said, “He who re- jects change is the architect of de- cay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cem- etery”. The challenge for the As- sociation and the profession for the next ten years is to respond effectively to these changes. The next 10 years, however, do offer a real opportunity to shape the delivery of dentistry in the UK if and only if we positively em- brace change and stop creating up reasons why there is no need to do so. We are training more den- tists than ever before, but we will need to look at opportunities for career advancement and Contin- uing Professional Development. Now that Dental Care Profession- als are registered, how do they fit into the delivery of care by the whole dental team? A recent BDJ article found that patients attending a dental therapist had significantly higher levels of satisfaction compared to those who attended a dentist. The authors were from the Dental School in this very city. We in the UK have been the trailblazers of this change and where we have gone the rest of the world will surely follow. Let me say that whilst we have a right to expect the BDA to help change things for the bet- ter for us, it does not absolve us of our responsibilities. The world famous Indian sage, Mahatma Gandhi, encapsulated this with “Be the change you want to see in the world.” DT June 7-13, 2010United Kingdom Edition Excellent Quality Excellent Value ...Why compromise All trade marks acknowledged. Offers subject to availability not valid with any other offers, price match or special pricing arrangements. All prices exclude VAT. Offer valid until 30th June 2010. Terms and conditions apply. E. & O.E. www.precisiondental.co.uk Tel: 020 8236 0606 5020 8236 0070 A-Silicone Fast Set Putty Hydrophilic Impression Material from £27.50 per pack (base + catalyst) • Super hydrophilic, thixotropic – NO SLUMPING • Convenient handling and easy to mix • Exceptional dimensional stability • Ample working time yet reduced setting time • Soft on insertion in the mouth for greater patient comfort • Easily removed from the mouth with optimum elastic recovery • Excellent storage stability • For best results use with Uposil Wash material Superior Quality impressions Light-cured Universal Microhybrid Composite only £12.50 per 4g syringe Proud to be assosiated with Tribune_apr10:Precision 16/4/10 15:12 Page 1 A busy year ahead 124th BDA President Amarjit Gill speaks to Dental Tribune about his role and the coming 12 months ‘Being involved in an association such as the BDA lets you develop parts of yourself that you just can’t working as a general dental practitioner. It allows you to get out of your comfort zone’ ‘He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery’