​The 2017 National Dental Nursing Conference was held on 17 and 18 November 2017 at the Milton Keynes Hilton.

It was opened by keynote speaker, postgraduate Dental Dean John Darby at the Opening Ceremony where incoming President Hazel Coey accepted the chain of office from outgoing President Jane Dalgarno.

Former Chair Debbie Reed also presented Chief Executive Pam Swain with a bouquet of flowers to mark her 25 years of working for the Association.

The afternoon programme began with TePe’s Elaine Tilling on 'Healthy Habit Formation', followed by Dentaid’s Jill Harding on 'Volunteering with Dentaid' and finished up with Matthew Hill, Director of Strategy at the GDC, updating delegates on what’s happening at the GDC. This was followed by a fairly lively Q&A session.

Saturday kicked off with a very interesting presentation on 'Dental Nursing in Oman' by Omani dental nurse Yassmen al-Lawaiti. Not only did Yassmen outline the training and work environment of dental nurses (or assistants, as they are still called there), she also told us about Oman, using maps, badges and samples of halva.

Yassmen was followed by Past President Angie McBain-Heilmann MBE and Adrian Buckingham, MD of Dental Hygienics and Decontamination Ltd, on 'What the Butler Saw!' – a cautionary tale of decontamination gone wrong, which caused several delegates to check their own practices as soon as they returned to work!

Health Education England’s Katy Kerr was next on 'Dementia Friendly Dentistry' and the lecture programme finished with the second GDC speaker of the Conference, Head of Standards Janet Collins on 'Enhanced CPD – What It Means for Dental Nurses'.

At the closing ceremony, President Haz presented Maureen Stone with the BADN 2017 Award for Outstanding Services to Dental Nursing Professional Practice.

Presidents Hazel Coey and Jane Dalgarno presented Pam Swain with a bottle of champagne and glasses from the Executive Committee to celebrate her silver anniversary with the Association.

Outside the Conference room, Isopharm were demonstrating products and answering questions, and the University of Kent was encouraging delegates to consider furthering their dental education.

The BADN would like to thank all the speakers, sponsors Isopharm, Oral Health Foundation, Purple Media, Robinson Healthcare, Splat, and the University of Kent – and all who supported BADN and the National Dental Nursing Conference by attending.

The 2018 National Dental Nursing Conference will be held in November at the Blackpool Hilton.

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