Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

W ould you like to boost your clinical knowl- edge, skills and career prospects with the help of some of the leading thinkers in the dental profession? How about being one of the first to discover some of the most advanced pieces of technol- ogy currently on the market. And how about topping it all off with a night on the tiles in Manchester’s vibrant town cen- tre? The British Dental Confer- ence and Exhibition 2011 19th -21st May 2011 offers dental care professionals all this and more. In collaboration with Oral B, the event team of organisers has put together a series of ses- sions specifically designed for dental professionals. For the firstthe time the BDA is provid- ing a DCP theatre within the exhibition, offering a series of 21 bite-sized lectures on a variety of inspiring topics, all absolutely free! On 19th May speakers will cover subjects including: • Fear-free dentistry • Medical emergencies – aller- gies and allergic reactions • How to integrate prevention into your daily practice • Periodontal health • A-Z of running a successful practice • The dental nurse as a registered professional • The prevention of oral cancer On 20th May speakers will cover subjects including: • Medical emergencies • The prevention of tooth wear • Tooth whitening • The developing role of dental care professionals in oral health • Tips for reducing stress at work • Medical emergencies – respira- tory difficulties On 21st May speakers will cover subjects including: • Good record keeping • Periodontal health • Boost your profitability with business planning • How social networking can help promote your practice • Smoking cessation Places are available on a first- come, first served basis through- out the day, enabling you to drop in and out as you please. 2011’s exciting programme of lectures and seminars in the main hall is not to be missed. Featuring a variety of leading speakers from around the world, dental care professionals will be spoilt for choice. For more information visit www.bda.org.uk/conference or call 0207 935 0875. DT Ignite your passion for dentistry D ental practices across England and Wales have been participating in the BDTA’s ‘Kick out the sweets, bring on the treats’ Change4Life cam- paign for the past six months; displaying posters, encouraging patients to complete question- naires and delighting their young- er patients with colourful stickers. More than 2000 completed questionnaires have now been returned by the general public and four practices responsible for generating some of these re- sponses have been selected at random as winners of the BDTA member gift voucher prizes. The lucky winners were: • The Robert Wakefield Dental Surgery, Driffield • Ghyllmount Dental, Penrith •Naidu&NaiduDentalCare,Essex • The Dental Care Centre, London Tony Reed, (pictured), Ex- ecutive Director at the BDTA, commented: “Many den- tal practices were keen to be actively involved with the BDTA’s Change4Life campaign which was very encouraging as it was a perfect way to get children interested in dental health. Thank you to all the prac- tices who promoted the cam- paign and congratulations to the winners!” DT Four practices win £500 each April 25-May 1, 20114 News United Kingdom Edition A joint venture partnership dental business is open- ing its first practice in a high street optician in Dundee, Scotland. A.S. Optometrists has bought an Ideal Dental Care franchise and has set up the fully branded con- cession within its practice offering both NHS and private treatments. It’s a ground-breaking move for Ideal Dental Care and owner Peter Thompson is keen to demon- strate the success of the new model – both in terms of the wider range of healthcare provision available to patients under one roof and also the potential business opportuni- ties for optical companies looking at innovative ways to expand their service proposition. “There is an immense amount of synergy between dental and op- tical businesses and it’s a fantastic opportunity for A.S. Optometrists to further enhance the range and scope of healthcare treatments it can offer its patients,” said Peter. “In a competitive market- place it’s important that busi- nesses such as opticians have a point of difference and having a complementary service such as a dental practice can only be a good thing in retaining exist- ing patients and attracting new ones.” A.S. Optometrists has its first dentist in place ready for its mid-April opening and own- er Ameen Sattar already has a large number of customers who have joined the waiting list to be- come patients. “We are acutely aware of the needs of our patients and one thing that came through loud and clear was the demand to have a range of healthcare professions under one roof,” Ameen Sattar said. “Franchising is common- place within optometry but is still in its infancy in the den- tal industry – which really sur- prised me. But it’s good to see that there are forward thinking busi- ness people in dentistry such as Peter Thompson who is making it work both as a standalone and concessionary practice.” “I’m very excited about the fu- ture of my business and hope this isthespringboardwhichwillenable me to take it to the next level.” DT Dentist sees the future with optician partnership Ameen Sattar and Peter Thompson T he British Dental Health Foundation wants dental and health professionals to go ‘Absolutely Dental!’ during Na- tional Smile Month by helping to plot hundreds of street and place names with fun dental themes. The Foundation has pub- lished the first ever ‘UK Den- tal Place Map’, and it is hoped that everyone involved in dentistry and the health profes- sions will add to the map and join in the fun in time for the start of Na- tionalSmileMonthon15May2011. Some of the many address- es and locations plotted on the map so far include Floss Street (London), Drill Lane (Can- terbury), Brace Avenue (Gwent), Mouth Lane (Wisbech), Canal Street (Leeds), Surgery Lane (Hartlepool), Wisdom Drive (Hertford), Tar- tar Road (London), Smiley Court (North- ern Ireland), Bracebri- dge Street (Nuneaton), Scales (North West), Tongue (Scot- land), Staines (Surrey), Toothill (Swindon) and Root (North West). Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Execu- tive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said: “It’s important for the image of dentistry that we can show the public a less serious side to our profession. National Smile Month is an opportunity for everyone in the profession to join in and send serious messages to the public about how to improve oral health. But it is also a chance to help change our image by en- gaging with the media and show- ing the public the fun side of the profession. “We hope that everyone will scour their local A-Z street maps over the next few weeks and help us to plot a few more locations. We also hope that some dental prac- tices will take photographs of them next to the street or place signs. We’ll upload the photographs onto the National Smile Month website at www.smilemonth.org and we hope that everyone’s efforts will help to create a fantastic story with the media during National Smile Month.” DT Go ‘Absolutely Dental!’