The Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation discusses the Introduction to Occlusion Symposium, helping early career dentists master the fundamental principles of occlusion to support restorative practice.
A new one-day symposium hosted by the Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation and the College of General Dentistry features a line-up of expert speakers. It has been carefully designed to provide early career dentists with a deeper understanding of the principles of occlusion, which are crucial to the provision of successful, long-term restorations.
The theories of occlusion underpin successful restorative practice, but recently qualified dentists can often lack a firm understanding of this area of dentistry.
Dr Tom Bereznicki, founder of the charitable educational foundation, explains why:
‘As the scope of clinical dentistry expands, for example haptics and digital dentistry, there is ever greater pressure to reduce other topics to accommodate the new ones – occlusion has unfortunately become a victim within the undergraduate curriculum. And yet occlusal harmony of the existing teeth and any restorations placed is of paramount importance to longevity and success.’
One-day symposium programme
The symposium’s programme has been developed to help bridge this knowledge-gap, with a series of lectures delivered by speakers who are all experts in the field.
Delegates will leave the symposium with an enhanced awareness of the basic principles of occlusion and the impacts on the longevity and stability of the dental care they provide to their patients.
Dr Bereznicki clarified:
‘To cover the length and breadth of the subject of occlusion would in all probability take a week. In the time available we will try to deal with the basic fundamental principles involved, particularly the intraoral occlusal examination which is crucial in treatment planning. In addition, examples of clinical success as well as occlusally related failures will be covered.’
Anyone who is interested in extending their knowledge further, will be able to visit a selection of education stands to learn more about a range of postgraduate courses on aspects of occlusion.
Expert line-up
Speakers at the symposium are all experts in the field of occlusion and are committed to delivering high-quality education. Dr Tom Bereznicki is set to launch the day’s itinerary with an overview of the fundamentals of occlusion including cases of occlusally-related failure. His presentation will be followed by lectures from Professor Paul Tipton, Dr Ken Harris, Dr Tif Qureshi, Dr Shiraz Khan and Dr Koray Feran, who will examine the five principles of occlusion in greater detail.
Book your place for £75
The Introduction to Occlusion Symposium, takes place on Saturday 5 April 2025 in London. It is open to dentists who qualified in the UK or overseas between 2019 and 2023 and have been practising in the UK for at least the past two years. To ensure it is accessible to dentists in the early stages of their career, the symposium fee has been set at £75 for each delegate.
Eligible dentists can book their place here.
Opportunities for early career dental professionals
The Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation and the College of General Dentistry are working together to provide a variety of educational opportunities for early career dental professionals. Other joint initiatives underway include two clinical skills awards and a one-day symposium on perio-occlusion.
The CGDent and GC Award for Foundation Trainees offers each successful candidate a fully funded place on a two-day composite layering course in Belgium. The Tom Bereznicki Award for Advanced Aesthetic Dentistry, open to dentists who qualified between 2019 and 2023, awards each of the highest scoring entrants with a fully funded place on a two-day digital dentistry course.
The one-day symposium on perio-occlusion takes place in September 2025 and will examine aesthetic aspects of perio and the functional occlusal aspects post orthodontic treatment. Details about these opportunities can be found on the CGDent website: www.cgdent.uk or on Instagram @bereznicki_dentaleducation or @CGDentYoungDental.
This article is sponsored by the Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation.
