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British Dental Conference 2014 #bda2014
Attendees at this year’s BDA British Dental Conference and Exhibition, to be held at Manchester central on April 10th to 12th, will have to opportunity of seeing Andrew Lane speak on “Occlusion and TMD – Practical Tips for Reaching a Diagnosis and Simple Treatment Modalities” at 10:15 – 11:15 am on Friday 11th April in the Exchange Auditorium.
If you are attending the lecture it will be useful to be able to refer to the following documents:
SDS Occlusal Screening Questionnaire
These may both be saved as pdf files to be printed out as many times as required and used in your practice.
Following the lecture it will be useful to work through the following article:
Identification and Diagnosis of Occlusal Disease
Later in the day Andrew Lane and Adrian Bennett will be presenting a practical workshop session covering facebow records, use of the leaf gauge to determine and record the first prematurity and transfer these records to a semi-adjustable articulator for diagnostic purposes and in the manufacture of stabilisation splints. If time permits there will also be a demonstration of the use of anterior midpoint stop appliances.
This workshop is limited to the first 20 applicants and takes place in Exchange Rooms 4 and 5 at 14:15 – please arrive slightly early to avoid disappointment.
Following the conference, participants will be invited to request practical guidance on the management of individual patients providing the preliminary protocols outlined above have been completed. Dentists should send appropriate photographs and radiographs of the clinical situation, the completed TMD Questionnaire and photographs mounted study casts demonstrating the first prematurity contact.
If you wish to take advantage of this FREE service please make initial contact using the following form:
Proposed Changes to Clinical Training in Occlusion
I’m hoping to discover what it is that people really want to learn and what their aim is when they include our occlusion courses as part of their personal development portfolio.
We have a problem at the moment that I think relates to the fact that, despite some recent updates, SDS have been running what is essentially a 30 year old course, teaching basically the same stuff in the same way for almost all that time. People do seem to enjoy the 2-day POISE introductory course and find it to be a valuable source of new information and skills, but they say they will sign up to attend the next level courses (over 90%) and then when it comes to booking on the next phase it just doesn’t happen – so we have had to cancel every single one of the POS equilibration courses for the last two years in all locations. This is despite fantastic feedback from the earlier POS courses and some very keen dentists who still keep in touch and send me cases to treatment plan, etc. A re-think is definitely needed and the course must change in order to appeal to today’s dentists.
The redesign I am considering is to shift the focus of the course away from pain and headaches to helping dentists solve the problem of how to rebuild the appearance and function of damaged dentitions, whether it be through wear, caries, extraction or whatever combination you care to imagine. Obviously we will still have to look at TMJ health and muscle pain as part of this, it just won’t be the main focus any more.

Want to know how to turn this ...
We used to run introductory 2-day courses, usually at weekends. My idea now is to run 2 x 1-day courses approx a month apart, keep the numbers down to 10-12 delegates and using 5 or 6 surgeries so that everyone can do the clinical stuff in pairs in a more realistic clinical environment so they get a more positive learning experience. The first day would include impression taking, facebow records, centric relation records and anterior deprogrammer construction, fit and adjustment, in addition to all the necessary theory. On the second day, a month later, the delegates would fit lab made stabilisation appliances from their records they had made on the first day, along with more advanced theory stuff and use of articulators by re-mounting the lower cast with a new CR record (after using the anterior deprogrammer for a month) and cast equilibration.
The next stage in this first year course would run in a similar way over 8 more days, a month apart again, but would involve bringing real patients along to be co-diagnosed by the group and treated, first with appliances, then equilibration and/or restoring using reversible means (e.g. direct composites, dentures, long-term appliances, etc.).

... into this, using acrylic and composite?
The following year’s course would move onto permanent restorative/prosthodontic methods, with more patients being treated, staring with anteriors, then, a posterior quadrant, then a full mouth (as currently occurs on the IRS and ARS courses).
There would also be online teaching, reading and practical tasks/projects that would need to be studied between all sessions.
I am in discussions about making the resulting 2 year course a major part of a diploma/MSc course accredited by a UK university (3 or 4 possibilities being considered).
What do you think? Feedback needed fairly urgently please 🙂
Regards, Andy Lane
Feedback from the POISE Course
We get great feedback from our courses, and it’s great to hear how we are changing lives, but here is one that I felt we had to share with you:
I’m amazed what a difference having extra knowledge of occlusion has made. I have treated many hundreds of patients since finishing the course but one in particular jumped out at me. The patient in question has had undiagnosed occlusal problems for years. The SDS questionnaire flagged up the problem. Past dental history revealed a bridge which had failed four times in ten years and numerous broken teeth. On examination he has very large bony exostosis, abfractions, Masseteric hypertorphy and classic violin strings through his Temporalis which were excrutiating to touch. Absolute barn door case, straight out of the notes. Amazingly he’s been a patient at the practice for 20 years and it had never been picked up. As you said on the course, you can only see what you know. After a stabilization splint and a decent bridge made in CR he’s got no pain and is pleased as punch with me as a dentist. He is a GMP for a living and values the holistic approach that we’ve taken to his treatment. He has since recommended other patients to the practice.
It frustrates me that there is such a big black whole in undergraduate occlusion teaching. I now don’t like looking at work that I’ve done before the course as I can see my own mistakes even though I considered myself a good dentist. I have older dentists who’ve been qualified for years telling me that occlusion is a waste of time. I truly believe it is not and am very grateful to you and Higgy for changing my career. CM
If you’d like to change your career in a similar way please book on our next POISE course, 12th/13th November 2012 at ACE in Wakefield, you won’t regret it! Call Jemma on 01457 821800 or email: jemma@sds-ipso.com
Hands-on Endodontic Courses for GDPs
Alyn Morgan is an endodontist we work closely with at my practice. He not only does great endo, but is also prepared to share his knowledge and skills with fellow-GDPs through his hands-on courses, to be held at Optident Ltd’s HQ in Ilkley.
Forthcoming dates are: 7/8th October 2011 and 4/5th November 2011 Read more…
New POISE course dates announced
The Practical Occlusal Instrumentation, Splints and Equilibration (POISE) Course
Speakers: Roy Higson and Andy Lane
This laboratory based, intensive 2-day course is the ideal introduction to essential occlusal principles and practical skills.
Roy and Andy, as general practitioners who know what works in practice, will pass on dozens of practical tips for how to make your dentistry more predictable, better looking and longer lasting, and make your patients think you are amazing!
Next Course: Saturday/Sunday 12th/13th November 2011 at the Academy of Clinical Excellence, Wakefield
Call us on 01457 821800 to book NOW! Or email: jemma@sds-ipso.com
Cost: £800 + vat – course notes, refreshments and loan of equipment included
- PRACTICAL – the only way to learn a skill you can take back to your practice and use on Monday morning
- OCCLUSION – a subject that forms an essential consideration in every aspect of dentistry, yet is often poorly taught in the undergraduate curriculum
- INSTRUMENTATION – unlock the mysteries of face-bows, articulators, leaf gauges, centric relation records and cast-mounting
- SPLINTS – the why, when, how, on whom and for how long of the whole range of occlusal appliances – make anterior jigs and stabilsation splints on another participant and experience having them made on yourself
- EQUILIBRATION – what is it and why do we do it – experience the effects of wearing a fully equilibrated stabilisation splint on yourself and others
- DIAGNOSIS – recognising the 80% of your patients that clench or brux, and working out which 20% actually need some form of intervention from you to unlock a whole new income stream without needing any new patients
Comments:
Invaluable knowledge gained over the weekend. Would be very interested in future courses. KF
Enjoyable, extremely well delivered and faultless presentation. DT
Great to refresh and relearn, many thank. AR
Excellent course very well presented, thank you. KG
Excellent! CT
Thanks, excellent course and extremely relevant subject matter! RF
The revision was very good for helping me to organise occlusal concepts in mind. I feel like I reall do understand occlusion now! Thanks Roy and Andy. HS
15 hours CPD
Feedback from the 3 most recent courses at LonDEC and ACE
(Scale of 1 – 5, 1 = “poor”, 5 = “excellent”)
- DAY 1: 4.9
- DAY 2: 4.9
- Roy Higson: 5.0
- Andy Lane: 5.0
- Venue (ACE): 4.9
- Would you recommend this course to a colleague? – YES – 100%
- VERY STRONGLY (100%)
MORE COMMENTS:
Thank you for a great weekend. Learned a whole lot – tip of the iceberg though! A.N.
+
A fantastic weekend with plenty of practical and theory. Thanks to Roy and Andy. M.C.
+
Excellent and enjoyable, I feel I have gained a lot of relevant information by attending. Location was easy to find and well equipped. D.T.
+
One of the BEST courses I have ever been on! S.P.
Reminder – Mike Melkers’ Webinar this Wednesday
Don’t forget to register for Mike Melkers’ next webinar, Wednesday 8th June at 8pm in the UK.
Subject: Intention Based Orthotic Therapy … Listening & Communicating for Treatment Success!
Register here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/422253262
This will be a very valuable session, no matter what level you are at in occlusal appliances, full of practical hints and tips about communicating with patients. The webinar will be followed by a question and answer session, which always proves very popular. You type in your questions and Mike answers them in order, so don’t be shy – make sure you take part!
Grindcare Training Sessions prove to be a big hit
I attended a training session on the Grindcare system for treating clenching and bruxism last week, arranged by Prestige Dental, who have recently been appointed as exclusive UK distributor for the system. We were fortunate enough welcome colleagues from Denmark who have been involved with the research and development along with use of the GrindCare in practice.
Read more…
Mike Melkers Occlusion Webinar 25/5/11, 8pm in UK

Dr Mike Melkers DDS, FAGD
Miguel (aka Mike Melkers) has kindly agreed to hold one of his very popular Occlusion Tips & Tricks Webinars at a time when when UK delegates can sign in, 8pm in the UK rather than the usual 2am slot that I always miss. Make sure you sign up soon as attendance is limited.
During this brief but informative webinar, Dr Melkers will share a few tips and tricks for practical application of occlusion in the everyday restorative practice.
- 2nd molar ‘headaches’ and why they happen
- Lost restorative space on second molars
- Anterior Open Bites that occur in splint therapy
- Simple screening protocols that take will save you time & money
Dr. Melkers’ Nuts & Bolts Occlusion Tips & Tricks
Booking details below: