Dental day draws a crowd

18 September 2016

University hosted a prestigious networking event for 70 dentists and dental practitioners

Dentists from across the north put down their drills for a prestigious networking day held at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

Around 70 members of the dental team listened to an array of guest speakers and networked with fellow professionals at the North West British Dental Association (BDA) and UCLan study event.

It was the first time the University and the BDA have joined forces to organise and host the continued professional development (CPD) one-day event.

Dr Mark Collinson, Honorary Secretary of the BDA North Western Branch, said: “The BDA encourages local practitioners to come along to network with each other because they can talk face-to-face with fellow professionals and gain knowledge which will benefit their work.”

Six guest speakers addressed the audience and discussed the importance of identifying oral cancer in its early stage, antimicrobial resistance, child safeguarding and common dental medical emergencies.

"Dentistry can be a very isolating job so to be able to attend an event like this is great because you can lean so much from the other attendees and that enables you to do a better job"

One of the speakers was Dr Sheila Cromie, who is a Senior Clinical Teacher at UCLan. She used to own and run a practice before turning to teaching. She said: “Dentistry can be a very isolating job so to be able to attend an event like this is great because you can lean so much from the other attendees and that enables you to do a better job.”

A selection of the dental professionals attended from across the county, including Preston, Blackpool, Bispham, St Annes, Wrea Green and Morecambe while others travelled from further afield, including Liverpool, Bury, Carlisle and Northumbria.

Angela Magee, the Head of the School of Dentistry, said: “This event has allowed us to engage with the local dental community and to demonstrate what we are delivering in dental education. We’ve been able to let them know about further educational opportunities and highlighted both our undergraduate and postgraduate courses.”

Professor StJohn Crean, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, added: “This is testimony to the mission statement of the UCLan School of Dentistry, to establish effective, collaborative links within the dental community. Working with the BDA is great for the University and we are looking forward to more events where we can work together.”