The lead song on the Beatles Abbey Road album of 1969 was ‘Come Together’. That song has great resonance 50 years later as our Merseyside branch urges everyone in dentistry with a passion for children’s oral health to ‘Come Together’ in the Beatles’ home city of Liverpool for our annual conference!

The theme is ‘20/20 vision’, a term that we know to denote standard eyesight, and is also a metaphor for learning from the past and looking to the future. It’s a perfect theme to explore many aspects of paediatric dentistry and child welfare, and to understand how our knowledge and experience can be translated into future policy and practise.

The conference opens with A BSPD Sugar Summit: Sugar, Obesity and Food Marketing. This picks up from the important Sugar Summit organised by the British Dental Association (BDA) in 2018.

Dr Alison Tedstone (Deputy Director Diet, Obesity and Physical Activity / Chief Nutritionist at Public Health England) starts the session with an overview of the government’s approach to sugar and childhood obesity. She is followed by Dr Emma Boyland (Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool) describing the prevalence and power of food marketing on the media and eating behaviours. Professor Amandine Garde (School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool) closes the session by discussing the relationship between food marketing and children’s rights.

Two Charlotte Waites feature in the second session of the first day! The first Charlotte Waite, a social worker ad Director of Transformation and Systems change for the mental health charity Platfform, recently spent two years on secondment at the Wales Adverse Childhood Experience Hub. She will discuss Adverse Childhood Experiences and what it means to be trauma informed. The second Charlotte Waite, (Chair of the BDA England Community Dental Services Committee) will then examine how the profession can recognise oral health inequalities in vulnerable patient groups and give a better understanding of advocacy strategies to improve oral health outcomes for children and their families. Complementing the Charlottes is Dr Aideen Naughton (Service Lead/Designated Doctor for National Safeguarding Team, NHS Wales) who will speak about the impact of childhood adversity on brain development.

The day rounds up with Andy Jones (Specialist in Paediatric Dentistry) who will update you on all you need to know about what’s on children’s TV - identifying age specific television programmes and characters to help communicate with paediatric patients (some of whom may be present….). Beth Powe, a dental care professional, closes the day with an overview of the DentalRECUR trial.

The Scientific Chair of the conference is Dr Laura Gartshore who is an advocate for the voice of the child. With this in mind, she has arranged the keynote session of the second day as Sights and Sounds of Childhood. The speakers include the formidable and inspiring Dr Hannah Barham-Brown, a GP trainee with more medical committee and advocacy roles than can be listed here! Hannah is recognised nationally across medicine and in the media as an advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion. Dr Lola Solebo (Paediatric Ophthalmologist) will present on the topic of ‘sights of childhood’ and Professor Julian Pine (Director, ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development - LuCiD) will present on the ‘sounds’ theme.

The second day continues with presentations centred around digital communication, contracts and clinical leadership in the 2020s. Jemma Hunter, General Dental Practitioner, Clinical Lecturer & Author of Instagram’s TheMummyDentist kicks off proceedings, and is joined by Emma Morgan (BSPD’s undergraduate ambassador) and Nishma Sharma (Dental Clinical Fellow with the Office of the Chief Dental Officer).

The final day’s theme is Current Concepts and Innovations in Dentistry for Children: A Multidisciplinary Team. The first speaker will be 2020’s winner of BSPD’s Outstanding Innovation Award – at time of press release still to be announced.
Professor Avijit Banerjee (Chair in Cariology & Operative Dentistry, Hon. Consultant / Clinical Lead, Restorative Dentistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London / Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital Foundation Trust) then takes the
stage to address the minimally invasive management of compromised first
permanent molars.

He is followed by Dr Jimmy Makdissi (Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Queen Mary University of London) who will discuss the benefits and limitations of Cone Beam Computerised Tomography for children. They will be joined by Professor Fadi Jarad ( Professor and Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, University of Liverpool) regarding his approach to dental trauma.

Dr Sally Hibbert (Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney) returns to her home city to share her thoughts and experiences regarding transitional care pathways and associated patient anxieties. Sally has many friends in BSPD having worked in Liverpool before moving to live in Australia.

Outside of the main clinical programme, there will also be judging and prize presentations for research, clinical cases and clinical governance. Furthermore, there will be:

The Teachers’ branch study day organised by Chair Helen Rogers on September 15

A banquet held in Liverpool Cathedral www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/

An academic breakfast

A Connect Trainees ‘lunch and learn’

A yoga session

A gentle run around Liverpool’s Albert Docks to take in the sights and sounds of the city

The annual Angel of the North quiz

A magic – or should it be magical! – session of balloon modelling with Dave the Dentist @therealdtd

Conference Chair Clare Ledingham, said: “We hope as many members and friends of BSPD will be joining us. We are working hard to make the 2020 conference an unforgettable few days. Along with celebrating all that is going on in paediatric dentistry, we hope Liverpool’s fab four will get a look-in.”

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