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trends &applications DeNtaltribuNe|april-June, 20106 Delegates that joined the first precongress sessions on Thursday morning confirmed that the programme was a large improvement to the offerings in 2008. Most of the people inter- viewed said that because of these changes they were able to attend most of the sessions held during thecourseofthemeeting. “I think the congress was pretty well organised and there was less overlapping which made it easier to get into more ses- sions,” said one dentist from Singapore. According to Mr Dreyer, pre- parations for the next edition of IDEM in 2012 have already begun and the first speakers have been announced. Amongst others, there will be sessions on the management of endodontic disasters, the biological effects of current restorative materials on the pulp-dentine complex and current concepts on posts and cores. The next meeting is scheduled to be held 20–22 April 2012. DT  page 3DT About the author Dr Katrin Bekes is Assistant Medical Director at the Depart- ment of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, University School of Dental Medicine, Martin Luther University Halle-wittenberg, Halle /Saale Germany. She can be con- tacted at katrin.bekes@medizin. uni-halle.de. The OHIP-G summary score characterised the OHRQoL con- struct as a whole. The OHIP-G summary score of patients with hypersensitive teeth was 34.5 (± 22.6), while the general population sample had a score of 12.2 (± 18.4). The 22.3 differ- ence was statistically signifi- cant. The general population subjects had an OHIP-G median score of 5, while the patient group had an OHIP-G median score of 30 (Fig. 3). Ten percent of the subjects with the highest OHI P-G summary scores had scores of 36 (general popula- tion) and 66 (patients). Differences according to gender were minimal. Although the difference between gender of a mean 2.8 points was stati- stically significant (p < 0.01), it was regarded as negligibl. Amongst the patient group, women reported more prob- lems with the condition of dentine hypersensitivity than men, which is in contrast to the general population, in which men had higher OHIP scores than women (Fig. 4). Conclusions QoL has been established as an important outcome for eva- luating the impact of a disease and for assessing the efficacy of treatment. The impact of oral disorders and interventions on patients’ perceived oral health status and OHRQoL is increasingly recognised as an important component of health. Dentine hypersensitivity is a frequent problem that can be observed in adults of all ages. In this study, patients with sensitive teeth reported sub- stantial OHR QoL impairment, which may have an influence on whether or how patients should be treated. The extent of this effect is comparable to that of other oral diseases and conditions, such as temporo- mandibular disorders. The present investigation is the first study that evaluates the impact of this condition using a widely used patient-centred outcome measure to characterise the broader influence of this condition on patients’ perceived oral health. DT