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Posted by: Dental Design 26th November 2022

Dentistry Show London presents a team programme

The delivery of exceptional patient care requires collaboration between the entire dental team. This not only means that all professionals need to remain abreast of the latest products, technologies and skills available, but they also need to appreciate what colleagues can do in order to maximise on their capabilities. As part of the dynamic educational programme at Dentistry Show London, there were various sessions that explored current challenges and opportunities for team members.

A fine example of this was Lauren Long’s session in the Clinical Excellence Theatre (delivered with Educational Partner, College of General Dentistry and Sponsor, Listerine), entitled “Dental therapy: unleashing the hidden potential in practice”. As the name suggests, this was all about how practices could better utilise their dental therapist for the benefit of their patients, the dentists and the overall business. Though clear that the financial aspects should not be a driving factor, Lauren acknowledged the importance of creating a business model that makes dental therapists an attractive and viable option for practices. She also shared the working model she follows in practice that allows her to offer 100% of her scope of practice. This focused on a collaborative approach to patient care and enabled the dentists in her practice to concentrate on the types of treatment they most enjoyed – and which often provided higher revenue for them, creating a win-win situation.

Offering some practical advice and guidance on how to make this kind of working successful, Lauren highlighted the impact of direct access on patient care at a time when access is so limited. She also suggested that this is a great way of boosting team happiness and morale – another essential factor for practices right now!

Dental therapists in attendance, Rosie Anderson and Poppy Grout, commented:

“Lauren was very clear in comparing the working models for dental therapists – it is difficult to find that information. We attended because we wanted to know more about how to implement a dental therapist’s skills and we will take a lot back to help sell ourselves a little more. It’s been thought-provoking and we have many questions we hope to go and ask Lauren while at the event!”

Another interesting session designed for team members was Benjamin Tighe’s presentation, “How far have we come since Clifford?” Starting off with the original Listerine TV advert from 1987, he explored the love-hate relationship that the dental profession seems to have had – and continues to have – with mouthwash. With a review of the literature, Benjamin explored the evidence behind the professional decision-making process, discussing whether or not mouthwash was included in the professional guidelines and why. As a dental therapist, he was clearly very passionate about helping all members of the dental team to support their patients in the most effective way and offered several insights into the latest recommendations and white papers. The outcome of the session was that patient messages should remain simple and that, ultimately, “healthy gums don’t bleed”. Regarding mouthwash, he suggested that a product containing fluoride may be the answer to avoid rinsing any fluoride that remains from the toothpaste.

For dental care professionals interested in digital dentistry, Cat Edney provided the perfect opportunity to find out more about their role in digital scanning. Cat’s enthusiasm for digital scanning was evident from the beginning as she shared her own journey from finally cleaning off the dust on her practice scanner to making it an integral part of her everyday appointments. She described the “visual learning journey” that the scans create for patients and discussed just how much of an impact this can have on both their understanding and their engagement with their oral health.

Commenting on the session, Head Nurse Ewa Fares from Elgin Dental Care said:

“I also want to encourage team members to use the scanner that is sitting in our hallway collecting dust! I thought the speaker was very good and very clear in her session. I didn’t realise dental therapists could do so much, or how many scanner models were available.”

Of course, to really make this work in practice, it is important that principals appreciate the opportunities to utilise the team’s skills too. One of the dentists in the audience for this session said:

“I wanted to hear more about the dental therapist’s role and thought this session covered everything it needed to. Cat was very clear and clearly very enthusiastic! I have found the lectures in general to be good and have enjoyed browsing the exhibition.”

Across the remainder of the programme, dental therapists, hygienists and nurses had access to numerous sessions of potential interest. Topics covered included periodontal challenges and updates, advice for managing orthodontic patient, minimally invasive dental techniques and getting involved with facial aesthetics. The Enhanced CPD Theatre and Compliance Theatre also both offered useful information to update knowledge and improve confidence in daily tasks. Plus, the exhibition hosts hundreds of companies for delegates to interact with and discover the latest products on the market.

All-in-all, Dentistry Show London 2022 was a fantastic event for the entire dental team. Be sure to get the dates for 2023 in your diary early – Friday 6^th – Saturday 7^th October!