Alyn Morgan, immediate Past-President of the British Endodontic Society (BES), discusses his time as President, the Society’s achievements, current challenges in endodontics, and his hopes for the future of the BES:
Throughout my year as BES President, there have been a number of standout experiences. In particular, organising two successful conferences (the Spring Scientific Meeting and our Regional Meeting), as well as inviting and then liaising with our speakers – all leaders in their field – to produce an outstanding scientific programme. I also really enjoyed meeting many of our members at all BES events, and hearing their positive feedback.
The Regional Meeting was definitely a highlight for me this year. This was the first time that the Society had been to Belfast in our 60-year history, the conference venue was superb and our social programme was extremely well received at the excellent Titanic Museum. We received great feedback from conference attendees and the attendance at the Conference dinner was the highest we’ve had to date.
During the year we have increased our membership and put in place a number of added value membership benefits for the future. We have raised the profile of the Society through our social media presence, which has been consistently growing and evolving over the past few years. By maintaining this presence, at a time when dentistry is getting a lot of negative press due to access issues, we’ve been able to present a rare positive message to patients and the profession at large.
As immediate Past-President, I’ll be heavily involved in supporting Professor William McLean (incoming BES President) delivering the IFEA World Endodontic Congress in Glasgow this September. It is an enormous responsibility to deliver this conference and, as BES Past-President, I will remain on Council and support him in whatever way I possibly can. I will also work with Will to continue delivering added value to our membership, seeing through projects which I hope will greatly benefit our members.
The BES has continued to grow in terms of members during my time as a Council Member, and has become one of the most successful specialty societies in the UK. I hope that the Society will continue to grow its membership, to allow us to deliver more successful conferences and further increase member benefits. We have a very active Early Careers Group, so we would like to ensure that the BES will continue to support all of its members whether they are new to endodontics or more established in their career, and integrate to offer support and mentorship.
The vast majority of endodontic treatment in the UK is provided on the NHS where this incredibly complex treatment is poorly funded under current contractual arrangements, making it a real challenge for dentists to carry out treatment to the standards outlined in our BES Guide to Good Endodontic Practice.[i] The BES will continue to engage with stakeholders to push the treatment quality agenda and I will be part of a round table discussion with the CDO in the next month to ensure our voice and that of our members is heard.
In order to continue to improve newly qualified dentists’ knowledge of endodontics, the BES is working closely with COPDEND to make improvements in postgraduate teaching, particularly in DFT. The BES has spent time developing career pathway documentation about the specialty so that people can understand what the current routes are for career development, be that specialist training or the development of a special interest.[ii] Linking this with our Early Careers Group events, I’m keen that we continue to offer advice and support to our membership at whatever stage of their career.
When it comes to technology and the future, particularly automated and artificial intelligence (AI) driven solutions, I think we should embrace this, but with a healthy amount of professional caution. As we enter into this area of AI-driven diagnosis, treatment planning, and execution, we need to make sure that the products on offer are fit for purpose. In recent years, there has clearly been a lot of focus on digital dentistry, especially improved imaging. AI is now being offered as an aid to diagnosis, complexity assessment, and treatment planning. I believe that guided endodontics is definitely a positive development, but in general we are behind in using digital technology to its utmost. I think that this is something that we as a specialty need to address.
As my Presidency draws to a close, I would like to thank our Council Members and Annabel Thomas, our long serving COO, without whom the Society wouldn’t function as well as it does. Remember – we are a specialty society, not a specialist society – as such, we are very much open to all who are interested in endodontics. I have been a member since I first qualified and have journeyed all the way through to BES President. As such, I would encourage anyone who has an interest in endodontics to join us, because it can be a very valuable and rewarding experience.
Register today for IFEA WEC 2024 at ifea2024glasgow.com/registration
For more information about the BES, or to join, please visit the website www.britishendodonticsociety.org.uk or call 07762945847
[i] British Endodontic Society. Guide to Good Endodontic Practice. Accessed Feb 24. https://britishendodonticsociety.org.uk/news/39/a_guide_to_good_endodontic_practice/
[ii] British Endodontic Society. Early Career Guide – Career Pathways. Accessed Feb 24. https://britishendodonticsociety.org.uk/professionals/endodontic_publications.aspx
