Dr Phillip Tomson reflects on his year as President of the British Endodontic Society (BES). He discusses the key advancements made by the BES over the past year, and his personal highlights:
It’s been a great honour to be BES President this year and represent the members, work with council and support the work of the society to promote the discipline. There is a huge amount that goes on behind the scenes, and it has been great to contribute and help guide many pieces of work that are coming to fruition, and do my best to remove any obstacles. There have been unforeseen challenges, but I have enjoyed working with some super individuals who have a common goal (because we all love endodontics!) and are committed to advancing the society and championing our specialty.
In addition to the normal work of the BES, we have been busy completing a number of other projects, including: publication of the BES Guide to Traumatic Dental Injuries, Non-Surgical Retreatment hands-on course, membership discount and bespoke endodontic templates with Kiroku (AI-powered note-taking and documentation), Vital Pulp Therapy hands-on courses, the Dentistry Show, Early Career Group Study Day and a DFT lecture series which is a hugely valuable resource for new graduates.
It is important to remember the recently announced success of the BES’s journal – The International Endodontic Journal – as it now has a tremendous impact factor of 7.1. This achievement is far beyond anyone’s expectations, ranking 3rd out of 162 journals in the Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine category. As a society we should be extremely proud of our journal.
There is a lot of other work in the pipeline, including a Pulpotomy Campaign, a series of patient information leaflets, development of a set of Standards for Teaching Endodontics in the UK, a review of the BES articles of association and an update of the Guide to Good Endodontic Practice, amongst others! A big thank you goes to all involved in these pieces of work, whether completed or ongoing. They are hugely important and it is the dedication of these individuals that makes these projects have such a positive impact for the society, discipline and profession.
I was delighted that the Spring Scientific Meeting and Regional Meeting were well attended and successful. These are always going to be a highlight for any President, as one gets an opportunity to put one’s own stamp on the meetings. For both of them, I was delighted to invite speakers who I hugely respect and many of whom are good friends. It was also great to hold the Regional Meeting at the Belfry, which I have a very close link to having worked there for many years when I was a student. As it was not in a city centre location, lots of the delegates stayed at the hotel and attended the Peaky Blinders themed dinner where everyone got heavily involved, it was brilliant fun and a great event!
Looking to the future, Phillip considers his ongoing involvement with the society, and his hopes for the years to come:
In my new role I will of course offer my full support to Philip Mitchell as incoming President, and continue my duties as a representative for the BES on various committees. I am pleased to continue working on projects that are close to my heart which firstly includes a Pulpotomy Campaign to spread the word about carrying out vital pulp therapy and how successful it can be, even in cases of irreversible pulpitis. This could have a massive impact on how we carry out endodontics with a far more conservative, simpler approach. We have several stakeholders involved and its potential impact is very exciting. Also, I am delighted that all the previous authors wish to be involved in an updated version of The Guide to Good Endodontic Practice – so lots on!
I hope the society continues to flourish and those involved inspire future generations to become passionate about our discipline. I hope our solid financial position is maintained and we can support teaching and research to advance the speciality for the benefit of patients for decades to come.
Phillip describes some of the greatest challenges affecting endodontics currently, and the work the BES is already doing to help combat them:
I feel one of the biggest challenges we have is educating the next generation of dentists to treat pulp and periradicular diseases at undergraduate level and as new graduates. These are commons diseases and we must ensure that we equip primary care dentists with the skills to treat them. We are at a vulnerable stage in managing our workforce as some new graduates are graduating with very limited experience of carrying out endodontic procedures. If this is not adequately addressed during their DFT year they may move into their independent career with a limited level of skill to be able to treat endodontic disease.
The worry is, these individuals are the trainers of the future. If they are not comfortable carrying out endodontic treatment there is a risk their trainees will not be either and this precipitates a downward spiral. The BES is working hard to contribute by supporting undergraduate teaching through the development of standards for teaching endodontics in the UK, and support of DFT training with an excellent series of online lectures. It is important that all stakeholders in workforce development are aware of these issues and we work together to prevent further deterioration.
I wish to express huge gratitude and appreciation to those on council or involved with council who have provided support and inspiration for the work we have done and will continue to do in pushing our specialty forward.
For more information about the BES, or to join, please visit the website www.britishendodonticsociety.org.uk or call 07762945847
Author: Phillip Tomson
