Reaching a new audience

The first Cardiff Dentistry Show saw hundreds of attendees flock to Wales’ capital to learn what’s new in the industry and rack up CPD hours.

Hundreds of delegates descended on the first Cardiff Dentistry Show, which received praise for being the first general dental exhibition held in the city for many years.

The free-to-attend event, held at Sophia Gardens on 6 July, featured a number of mini ‘power’ lectures on various contemporary topics, and more than 40 exhibitors displaying technological and industry developments.

The FMC-hosted show also saw more than 200 delegates get access to nine hours of enhanced CPD.

Power lectures

From the opening of the show at 9am, the lectures covered clinical, financial and business advice, and each aimed to pack as much information for attendees within their 20-minute allocation, though some struggled to keep within this limit with the high quantity of good advice they had to share.

On the patient side of things, DDU deputy head Leo Briggs talked about the importance of communicating with challenging people: that patients mostly care about the results of surgery so you should discuss the treatment with them rather than present, the need for your practice to have a solid complaints procedure, and why you should keep good records.

Les Jones, marketing director at Practice Plan, said while a patient with a plan in place is more valuable and reliable, ‘the first thing to think about when growing a plan is everyone in the practice has to think it’s the right thing for the patient’.

Kevin Lewis lectured about his ‘magnificent seven’ tips for keeping your patients happy, including how to trust your instincts and not think you are smarter than them, embracing change, and being good at the right things. In terms of keeping yourself free from legal action, he said to remember to treat the patients not their teeth because ‘teeth don’t sue you, people do’.

Looking practically, Barry Oulton delivered a 20-minute solution to parafunction that he followed with a demonstration of applying a sleep clench inhibitor at the S4S stand, which attracted a big crowd.

Towards the end of the day, Nicky Ricketts from DD gave a detailed talk about infection control, highlighting the importance of prevention, and why staff should be aware of the details of safety protocols and read them, not just acknowledge they exist.

Positive response

As well as the lectures, delegates were able to visit stands headed by some of the biggest names in dentistry. In addition to technology and equipment displays, there were financial and dental plan organisations on-hand to explain the services they provide.

Those who attended praised the event for delivering brief but insightful lectures, giving the opportunity to check out some of the latest technological developments and gain industry advice.

Attendees also welcomed such a show being held in Cardiff, being located close to where they live or work.

Raid Ali, a dentist based in Cardiff, said: ‘It’s really nice to start to see Cardiff host such a thing, because the nearest shows held are in Birmingham or London. This is the first time and FMC are always good with these things, as it was them that started everything like this: the Private Dentistry Show, the Implant Dentistry Show, CPD Essentials, so it’s nice of them to think of Cardiff.’

Suzanne Noorbhai, who lives in Cardiff and works as a dentist in Hereford, said: ‘I like the idea of quite short lectures – that’s good. I’m learning quite a bit and it’s small, I like that, so you don’t get too lost with it. It’s close to me – I live nearby – and it’s good that it’s free. I learned a lot of information; not just clinical, but financial as well.’

Said Albakov, a student at the University of Bristol, said: ‘I think the lectures were really interesting. I like how the stands were accepting that we were students and keen to show us around. What I wanted to see was the new technology and how dentistry is progressing.

‘With the lectures, they encourage you think in different ways and I’m interested in a few books they mentioned, so I might get those, too.’

Rebecca Pallin, also a student at Bristol, agreed with how accommodating the show was. She said: ‘You came away from each lecture feeling more inspired and that you could apply them yourself.

‘All the stands were really engaging and it was never too big of an ask for them to help. They have some of the major technology here, specialty wise, and they really go into a lot of detail even though I’m just a student.’


Registration for the 2020 event in Cardiff on 4 July opens soon. Visit www.cardiffdentistryshow.co.uk for more details.

Favorite
Get the most out of your membership by subscribing to Dentistry CPD
  • Access 600+ hours of verified CPD courses
  • Includes all GDC recommended topics
  • Powerful CPD tracking tools included
Register for webinar
Share
Add to calendar