The College of General Dentistry (CGDent) and Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation have announced that Dr Reena Wadia MCGDent and Dr Andy Toy FCGDent will be the speakers at their upcoming Perio-Occlusion Symposium.
The symposium will take place on Saturday 20 September 2025 at the Kensington Conference and Events Centre in London, and will focus on two aspects of aesthetic dentistry: ‘pink aesthetics’ and the role of occlusion in clear aligner therapy.
Dr Reena Wadia MCGDent, Principal of a specialist periodontal referral clinic in London, will present a range of clinical cases and examine the indications and steps of crown lengthening and gum recession surgery, reviewing the procedures currently available.
Qualifying in 2011, Dr Wadia later worked as a Senior House Officer in restorative dentistry and oral surgery, completed speciality training in periodontology and became a specialist associate at King’s College Hospital. She has been awarded Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Membership in Periodontics of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, a Master’s in Clinical Dentistry and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. She is an adviser to the BDA Indemnity board, a member of the Invisalign Advisory Board, founder of Perio School and lectures nationally. Author of several articles in the Primary Dental Journal and Guest Editor of the Winter 2019 issue dedicated to periodontics, she is also co-editor of ‘Other Journals in Brief’ in the British Dental Journal and a trustee of the Oral & Dental Research Trust, was a reviewer of the current edition of the CGDent Standards in Dentistry guidance and was previously a board member of the FGDP (UK).
Dr Andy Toy FCGDent will focus on the steps involved in carrying out an occlusal examination and assessment to arrive at a suitable orthodontic treatment plan using aligner therapy, so as to ensure a healthy, functional occlusion and long-term stability of the treatment provided.
Dr Toy qualified from Bristol University in 1980, built his own practice from scratch in 1984 and became a Foundation Trainer in 1987. He soon became the local Training Programme Director, holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Mentoring in Dentistry and in 1999 became the first general dentist in the UK to gain a Master’s in Clinical Education. With an ongoing interest in occlusion, in 1982 he attended the LD Pankey Institute in the US, later joining their Teaching Faculty and Advisory Board. Andy has been a member of a research team at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, and published a number of peer-reviewed papers on dental occlusion and oral-muscle function.
Co-Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Clear Aligner Therapy at the City of London Dental School, he has been an International Speaker for Align Technology since 2010 and is an Ambassador for the Aligner Dental Academy. He was a member of the former FGDP(UK) from the start, successfully completed the MFGDP(UK), became a Divisional Research Facilitator and served on the Board from 2004-2014. He was a contributing author to the Faculty’s, now College’s, Selection Criteria for Dental Radiography and An Introduction to Research for Primary Dental Care Clinicians guidelines, and has been a reviewer in the development of the imminent third edition of Standards in Dentistry and the forthcoming Standards in Dental Photography. He has authored over a dozen articles for the Primary Dental Journal, was Guest Editor of the Spring 2015 issue on Communication, complaints and consent, was awarded Fellowship of the Faculty by election in 2021 and is now a Fellow of the College.
Dr Tom Bereznicki FCGDent, Founder of the Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation, said:
“Our new symposium in September highlights two aspects of aesthetic dentistry which are both equally fundamental in the provision of successful treatment but which tend to be less understood by early career dental professionals, due to lack of training or experience.“
“An increasing number of younger colleagues are becoming involved in digital smile design and the provision of relevant restorations and the aesthetics and positioning of a patient’s gingival tissues are a vital part of that delivery. The provision of clear aligner therapy has also become very popular with early career dentists but less well understood is that to ensure successful delivery of treatment, an initial occlusal examination should be carried out. For long-term stability of the desired aesthetics, the occlusion on completion should be refined – if this is not carried out, retention such as splinting is likely to fail, followed by relapse. The symposium programme is designed to address these issues and support the ongoing professional development of early career colleagues.”
While designed for early career dental professionals, all dental professionals are welcome to attend the Perio-Occlusion Symposium. Delegates will receive 6 hours of verifiable CPD, it takes place on a Saturday to avoid time away from clinic, and the attendance fee is an affordable £90 (discounted to £70 for those who qualified between 2020 and 2024 or will qualify in 2025).
It is the second in a series of symposia organised by the Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation in collaboration with the College. Following the success of the Introduction to Occlusion Symposium held in April 2025, plans have been made to repeat that event in Edinburgh to allow a greater number of early career colleagues to attend, and registration will be open soon.
The College also collaborates with the Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation to host the CGDent-GC Award for Foundation Trainees and the Tom Bereznicki Award for Advanced Aesthetic Dentistry, which provide successful candidates with fully-funded clinical training. Anyone wishing to keep up-to-date with these opportunities and other College activities is encouraged to create a free online account to become a College Subscriber.
Registration for the Perio-Occlusion Symposium is now open. For further information, and to book, visit https://bit.ly/4etTcWi
