The British Orthodontic Society was established back in 1994, making this year’s British Orthodontic Conference (BOC) the perfect opportunity to celebrate the work of the organisation since its inception. Hundreds of delegates descended upon the International Convention Centre (ICC) in the heart of Birmingham, ready to experience the impressive three-day programme. The conference was the largest BOC to date, and everyone present was looking forward to hearing from the impressive list of speakers the BOS had put together.
Guy Deeming, chair of the BOC team, kicked off the event by introducing the conference theme, ‘Reinvention and Reinvigoration’.
The educational programme began with a presentation from Justin Durham, professor of Orofacial Pain at Newcastle University and honorary consultant oral surgeon. Titled ‘Arch Enemies: Painful Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) and Orthodontics?’, he discussed the 12 common types of painful TMD, highlighting the most common symptoms including pain, joint sounds and headaches. He encouraged the audience to “think wider than just the teeth”, in reference to the bio-psychosocial aetiology of TMD, concluding that it is vital for clinicians to treat the condition as soon as it is diagnosed. Justin maintained audience engagement throughout the presentation by using the ‘Mentimeter’ software to enable those in the audience to participate by sharing their comments and questions.
The first day of the event was brought to a close by a presentation from Marissa Bell, specialist orthodontist, who discussed the importance of interceptive treatment in young patients. Marissa defined interceptive treatment as “not striving for perfection but improvement”, emphasising the importance of adopting a patient sensitive approach when treating malocclusions.
The second day of the conference began with a presentation from Sarah Buxton, a HR and employment lawyer at Buxton Coates Solicitors, who offered advice for both employers and employees. With employment law being one of the fastest moving areas of law, Sarah highlighted the importance that dental professionals stay up to date with the ever-changing legislation and encouraged those present to seek professional HR advice if necessary. Sarah encouraged employers to ensure they have various procedures in place, including a whistleblowing policy that all members of the team must be trained in.
Then Owen James, chief operating officer at PortmanDentex, discussed the evolution of a dental corporate, highlighting the importance of data and analytics to unlock value. He touched on the future of technology transformation through artifi cial intelligence (AI) and how investing heavily in new technologies will help transform the clinical and customer experience.
Following on from this, Paul Graham, the managing director of the medical team at Christie & Co, focused on trend forecasting for orthodontic practices, whilst looking at buyer profiles and how they have evolved. Paul referred to the niche nature of the orthodontic market, referencing the covid ‘Zoom boom’ and the rise of aesthetic dentistry. He touched on the importance of investing in technology and being ‘data rich’ - the idea that knowing your business and how to appraise it allows a potential buyer to see what they need to address and improve.
The morning continued with a presentation from Lora Nash-Legrys, global digital director for TIO, titled ‘The Social Orthodontist: Leveraging Trends for Practice Growth’. Lora shared statistics on social media use, before offering delegates tips and tricks on how to utilise platforms to enhance their personal brand to attract and retain patients. Also in this session, Shivani and Sameer Patel built on the importance of marketing, advising delegates to invest in social media to help build a practice’s reputation.
During the lunch break, delegates had the opportunity to explore the trade stands present, as well as network with other dental professionals.
The afternoon began with an engaging talk from Lucie Simic, a dental business consultant, who discussed customer expectations and the importance of time management. Through an entertaining, if slightly long-winded, coffee drive-through analogy, Lucie emphasised the importance of creating a memorable customer service experience. Echoing Justin’s words from the day before, Lucie encouraged delegates to see patients as “more than just a mouth” and to build a relationship beyond dental and beyond teeth.
The following presentation from Leanna Best, a treatment coordinator for Smmmile Store and lead coach, emphasised the importance of effective communication with patients. An engaging speaker, Leanna discussed the various types of communication barriers with patients including technology, environmental and verbal. She also explained the importance of employing emotional intelligence when communicating with patients.
The day’s programme came to a close with a talk from Tom Frawley, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Sheffield and consultant orthodontist. Tom offered an insightful overview for prospective orthodontic trainees of what to expect from the interview process when entering into orthodontic training. He shared examples of previous interview stations, including clinical management, clinical experience and NHS values, sharing advice on how to effectively answer these. One tip he offered was using the SPIES acronym to answer questions effectively. This stands for:
- Seek further information
- Put patient safety first
- Initiative
- Escalate
- Support for answering questions on clinical management
If delegates were brave (or crazy) enough, they had the opportunity to start the third day of the conference with a fun run. With the choice of either a 3km or 6km loop, it was a great way to meet new people and start the day by taking in all Birmingham has to offer.
The lecture programme began with a presentation from Sophie Acker, founder of Inari Consulting and Coaching, offering advice on how to cultivate happiness in the dental office. Sophie narrowed down the source of happiness to two main pillars – environment and people – reminding the audience that they have the power to choose. Offering a range of motivational and somewhat insightful mantras, the presentation lacked a real sense of purpose or direction.
The second presentation was from Fiona Stewart-Wilson – who continued the theme of choice, explaining why it can be difficult for us to say ‘no’. Fiona emphasised the importance of assertiveness in the dental practice to ensure a direct and open line of communication. She offered tips on how to achieve this, including knowing your boundaries, using your voice and body language effectively and using clear and direct language. Fiona’s presentation was both engaging and refreshing, garnering more than just a few laughs from the audience.
Tim Newton rounded off the mornings programme with the prestigious Northcroft Memorial Lecture, titled ‘Doing Good, Being Good and Feeling Good’. Tim discussed the mental health crisis, particularly within dentistry, touching on the increased pressures on dental care professionals. As part of the ‘doing good’ segment of his talk, Tim praised delegates for the work they are doing in healthcare to enhance people’s quality of life. He urged the audience to remember and cherish the intrinsic rewards of purpose, connection and mastery, to encourage people to ‘feel good’ about what they are achieving.
The afternoon sessions included even more presentations, including a poignant talk from Diane McAllister, a workforce development coordinator at Harbour Support Services. Diane gave an oversight of the different forms of domestic abuse and offered delegates advice on how to respond to disclosures from patients. She emphasised the importance of believing what a patient has told you, taking the abuse seriously and helping them to initiate the next steps. She also stressed the significance of maintaining some level of regular contact and, if possible, signposting them to domestic abuse services (such as the National Domestic Abuse Helpline).
The conference concluded with a presentation from Nadine Houghton, titled ‘My Journey – Nurse to Orthodontist’, offering delegates advice on how to manage imposter syndrome at work. Nadine’s presentation rounded off the three-day programme nicely, exemplifying the diverse range of speakers and topics that the conference covered.
Overall, the programme certainly delivered on its theme of reinvention and reinvigoration, as delegates left the event in a positive frame of mind. But after such an extensive programme they probably also needed another kind of R&R (rest and relaxation) over the weekend, before taking what they had learnt back into practice!
Next year’s event will be the first to take place in Wales, and many are already looking forward to seeing what the BOS has in store for its 31st anniversary celebration!