Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

May 23-29, 20118 Clinical Innovations United Kingdom Edition M ay 6-7, 2011 saw the eighth annual Clini- cal Innovations Con- ference held in association with Smile-on, the AOG, Dental Di- rectory, ESCD and FGDP (UK). The event, held at the prestigious Royal College of Physicians in London, saw more than 350 del- egates come through its doors to find out the latest thinking in aes- thetic and restorative dentistry. The conference was opened by some welcoming words from Smile-on CEO Noam Tamir, and AOG president Pomi Datta. Then it was the turn of Dr Nasser Barghi to commence the lecture programme, with his presentation titled All Ceramic Restorations in 2011: different ceramic systems and their clinical indications. Dr Barghi discussed vari- ous restorative solutions for pa- tients and how technology has progressed to such an extent that there aren’t too many bad prod- ucts to choose from. He was pas- sionate in his ‘love’of zirconia, making it his material of choice for his restorations. He was able to show many case stud- ies to show the different solu- tions clinicians have at their dis- posal to illustrate many of his points. Themes in his presenta- tion included: • Adhesion: cement or bond- ing? Discussing surface treatment when looking at adhesion • Veneers: his preference for ce- ramic veneers; indications for no- prep veneers. These include: o No discoloration o Presence of diastema o No rotation o Presence of proportion • Learning from failures: Dr Barghi commented that his defi- nition of an expert was a person with failures. Acknowledging that these were not a preferred thing in practice, he thanked the ‘luxury’ of being in academia which gave him the chance to be experimen- tal with techniques • Being in control: he was very passionate about dentists remain- ing in control of their restorations. Commenting that he always looks at the scans which his dental laboratory have taken from his impressions (he’s not convinced with digital impression taking, not just yet!) so he can ensure that what is going to be milled is what he is expecting for his patients My favourite piece of ad- vice Dr Barghi gave in his pres- entation was this: ‘Remember the golden rule of dentistry – if it is your patient, repair it; if it is someone else’s patient, replace it!’ After such a start, it was going totakesomethingspecialtofollow. Luckily, next up was Dr Wyman Chan, discussing Latest tech- niques in teeth whitening proc- esses. Showcasing his new ‘Jump- start’ technique, Dr Chan gave a demonstration of the system that he has devised over many years of research and development. The first thing that struck me was the emphasis on patient safe- ty and the precautions taken to en- sure that the process was entirely pain-free for the patient. This was paramount, Dr Chan commented, to ensure that the home regime prescribed by the clinician would be adhered to because the patient knew it wouldn’t hurt. The other thing that struck me, and this is the innovative thing about the Jumpstart system, is that there is no use of whiten- ing trays or bright cumbersome lights; the whitening gel is painted onto the teeth and a small thermal Clinical Innovations 2011 Dental Tribune looks back at this year’s Clinical Innovations Conference