This years BDA Conference was held at the Manchester Central Convention Complex. The venue was really easy venue to get to and as usual the event was very well organised by the BDA events team.
This year was interesting from all sorts of aspects. On the political front there was the BDA AGM. Given all the recent events, redundancies, constitutional changes would this be a powder keg? Definitely not. Peter Ward spoke for some considerable time about the ‘prudence’ (mentioned four times despite a £1.3m deficit) of the BDA thus reducing question time to minus five minutes (programme allocation). The only question made in ‘extra time’ was about DCPs being members of the BDA and that brought the expected anodyne response – members are equally divided!
Could we do better with Earl Howe on Friday morning? This is a courteous and well schooled politician who spoke nicely about very little. We will see changes to the new contract… there are flaws with the present one… They will be brought in gradually from 2015… the Department of Health will learn from experience and feedback from the pilots…. The Pathway will remain central and delivers benefits but “we still haven’t got it right”. There was no mention of extra money and any hope dentists had for real change was dashed.
Taking searching questions after his speech, Richard Graham asked about the Department of Health’s attitude to the extreme bureaucracy that had contributed to two tragic suicides in Northern Ireland, and Tony Kilcoyne asked about ‘The Big Lie’ and whether there was going to be an even bigger
lie in 2016? Both of these evocative questions were handled empathetically and with consummate politeness by Earl Howe but with no real answers or
assurances.
John Milne spoke each day of the conference on the update of the pilots and NHS contract reform – there was nothing new there. Mick Armstrong, the new BDA PEC chair, however was a force to be reckoned with. Using language that gave hope, “we mustn’t be taken for granted”, he covered, amongst other topics, NHS clawback in Scotland, the debacle of the CQC, pilots, HIV dentists, DDRB, FD funding and ending with “It's time the double standards we’ve battled with are vanquished.” Hurrah – this was fighting talk!
There was a confusing array of speakers on a multitude of topics starting at 9.30am and finishing at 6pm every day. There seemed to be something for everyone. Certainly implants were given a lot of time, with many speakers pointing to the next explosion of litigation coming from recurring peri-implantitis associated with placing implants. The star was oral surgery specialist Colin Campbell. His main message was that we have to be aware of the potential problem of periimplantitis and the need for surgical intervention with failing implants. There was nothing but praise for his lecture.
Paul Weston was also very good value. Following Earl Howe – from high
politics to deep pockets – Paul looked at treatments to reduce bleeding gums.
Bill Moyes, the newly appointed chair of the GDC, gamely tried to explain how the GDC is going to rectify some of its problems. Complaints to the GDC have risen by 110 per cent since 2010 and the GDC has to be seen to be proactive. He faced some pretty hostile questions mainly about the length of time it takes to resolve cases (the GDC has a high turnover of case handlers). There are obviously a lot of unanswered questions relating to the GDC – this is rather depressing.
The popular lectures (always packed out with young dentists) were those on
quick fix orthodontics. Inman Aligner – with lectures every day – and Fastbrace both had oversubscribed audiences of mainly foundation dentists. Who can blame them for wanting to get into the private market when they now qualify with enormous debt?
Whilst there was no big keynote speaker on Thursday, there was Michael Wise on Saturday morning - a lecturer with enormous clinical experience and very high standards. He tackled identifying problems in treating patients and trying to resolve them and he too looked at ways of preventing litigation.
Over the course of the conference there were some excellent speakers - Professors Burke, Ibbotson and Walls to name but a few. But there were also a greatly increased number of GDPs with special interests lecturing (who better to advise on best practice than those who deliver it daily?). Andy Lane gave two lectures on occlusion, a vital part of a healthy mouth. There were many topics covered from, dementia patients, business management, photography, and new medicines to bonding, cosmetic treatment, posterior composites and periodontology, plus there was recommended CPD available every day.
As well as the conference the event included a trade show. This was reduced in size from previous years but some parts of the trade seemed to be blooming. There were five stands selling loupes – so that was reassuring - but also an increasing number of accountants and lawyers. Fastbrace, Intelligent Alignment Systems, and Six Month Smiles were in evidence as were Oralift and Clinical Lasers (the latter guaranteeing 10 years off your face age in 10 minutes). Generally the stands seemed to be smaller and there were fewer freebies available. On the whol it seemed relatively quiet this year, the old queue test (even at peak times there was never much of a wait to get food
or a coffee) suggested there were fewer people present , though BDA figures say differently.
I believe it was a good conference. My personal highlight was listening to Mick Armstrong who says it as it should be said. He will however have to perform miracles to be able to get more money for NHS dentistry and foundation dentists (the highest paid post-graduates in the UK). I believe the
BDA Conference is the best we have for all round education, CPD, business management and clinical advice and example. However one thing that was missing this year was a ‘spark’. There was no buzz and a lot of litigation advice from every aspect. Perhaps this is a sign of the times?