The ethos of this commitment to be able to execute science combined with art has been established for almost two decades.
The most recent study club day on endodontics, was held on the November 21 2014 at the Crowne Plaza in Marlow.
The day compromised of having three specialist endodontists discussing different aspects of current endodontics. There was also one lecture by the president elect on the use of posts for restoring endodontically treated teeth.
The first speaker was Ray Bellamy, who practises in Dublin and Bath. He commenced the day with the Ten Commandments of Endo as imparted by his mentor Herb Schilder. This was illustrated by Herb’s original slides and cases of what could go wrong if the commandments were not followed. The emphasis of this lecture was to instil values and morals into the endodontics. His main message explained that the onus is on us as clinicians to create success and understand that failures, when cases are planned thoroughly are due to shortcomings and limitations. He then laid the key principals of his teachings from his mentor. He showed that even where modern endodontics has evolved so far, these Ten Commandments are essential to follow.
Massimo Giovarruscio presented Pitfalls, Problems and Solutions. His lecture was filled with outstanding cases, video and animations. His entertaining style of presentation was beautifully accompanied by his meticulous execution. A truly world class presentation in which he covered the advantages of some of the rotary file systems that he prefers to use, along with tips and hints for negotiating complex root anatomies and curvatures. The animations and microscope videos really brought home his message that there are no short cuts in excellence. He also showed the differing methods of managing perforations and wide apices. All of his cases had follow up radiographs to demonstrate stability and healing.
Patrick Holmes from Swindon discussed Posts and Cores, with his recommendations substantiated with a comprehensive literature review. This was an overview of restoring endodontically treated teeth with or without the variety of post systems available. This is a hot topic in dentistry and to didactically dissect restoring endodontically teeth was not going to be an easy task. There were valuable clear tips and messages delivered to the delegates with regards to this crucial aspect of restorative dentistry.
The final speaker, Dan Flynn gave an interactive lecture on Endodontic Surgery – The Final Solution. This started by showing multiple cases with only the preoperative presenting information. This was then opened to the group for discussion of the differing treatment options, which included orthograde treatment or retreatment, apical microsurgery and extraction.
Even with such a peer group in the room, the discussion and the differences in treatment planning were so diverse. This showed that even today there is no set generalised consensus to a definitive treatment that can be agreed by all. Once again beautifully illustrated cases were shown with the treatment options that were chosen, these all were backed by longer term follow up to demonstrate success. The message was very clear that - think carefully before considering to extract teeth and the possible implications that patients could be going through. By opting to extract teeth this would often imply additional appointments, costs and surgery, at the end of which the aesthetics could be compromised.
The day was a huge success and a testament to the highest level of education that the British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry delivers.
The Annual Scientific Meeting will be held at Stoke Park on January 30-31 2015 entitled,
Inspire to Aspire.