I joined the BACD back in 2004, and have been involved in one way or another ever since. I’ve always felt strongly about representing the profession and the BACD is an organisation that I firmly believe in. My first role was to set up the regional study clubs after which I moved to sponsorship and trade. For the last couple of years I have sat on the board as scientific director, where it’s been my great privilege to work alongside some really dedicated, passionate individuals helping to grow the BACD into the organisation it is today. Now, in my new role as president, I hope to continue the good work done by my predecessors by strengthening our ties with other societies and organisations so we can offer our members even more opportunities to grow and develop within their careers.
The BACD has come a long way in a relatively short space of time. We started out in 2003 with only 80 members, and now 10 years on we have almost 800 members and continue to grow year on year. When I look back and compare the academy in the early days to where it is now, it is like chalk and cheese. I remember we used to pay a PR company for exposure in the national press – now the media come to us. This goes to show the strong reputation we have built over the years, and this is something I hope to continue and grow over my coming year as president.
An academy for all
I truly believe that the BACD is not just an academy for ‘the cosmetic dentist’. There is a cosmetic element to everything we all do everyday and in almost every clinical situation, be it a single tooth or several. It is therefore an academy for all dentists.
Forging relationships
Over the years we have created some strong links with various organisations and this year we are also looking to strengthen our relationships in other areas as well. Implant dentistry is my particular area of interest and like me, many BACD members are also members of the Association of Dental Implantology. So with my good friend Philip Friel, my counterpart at the ADI, I feel some synergy with our organisations. There are a number of interesting opportunities in the pipeline that I hope to bring to fruition in the coming year. After all, dental implants and cosmetic dentistry go hand in hand. Another area in which I hope to expand the BACD’s role is in the field of teeth whitening. As an organisation we already get approached quite a lot about teeth whitening, but this is not something we can tackle on our own. Illegal whitening is a major problem at the moment, and we really need a national strategy to deal with this challenge. The BACD is an active member of a new initiative, The Tooth Whitening Information Group which also consists of all the major bodies involved in teeth whitening such as the British Dental Health Foundation, British Dental Industries Association, General Dental Council, British Dental Association, British Dental Bleaching Society and all the major dental whitening companies. I hope in the coming year we will be able to disseminate more information to our members on how to tackle local businesses offering teeth whitening illegally.
Orthodontics for the GDP
As well as forging relationships, we hope to build bridges. Many colleagues will be aware of the ongoing debate in the profession regarding orthodontics and the role of general practitioners in the provision of orthodontic treatment. When the British Orthodontic Society (BOS) placed their controversial advert in the Guardian earlier in the year, it caused quite a stir among certain groups of the profession.
As an organisation we have always tackled adversity head on in the past and invited those concerned to our conferences to show them what we are really about. In response to these ongoing concerns we’ve worked hard to build bridges with our orthodontic colleagues, and we were delighted that the BOS accepted our invitation to speak at our annual Conference.
During my year as president, I hope to nurture this relationship, and together with our orthodontic colleagues, aim to develop ways to help educate general dentists, as well as orthodontists, on how we can work together in a more synergistic way. As with all dentistry, if done within one’s competency, orthodontically facilitated smile design will aid the clinician in keeping treatment as minimal as possible and this can only be for the benefit of our patients.
With the prospect of building closer ties with our sister organisations over the coming year, I hope that my time as president will help to further cement the BACD’s position as the leading light in comp comprehensive aesthetic dentistry today.
The British