Make A Dentist Conference 2016

Kicking off 2016 with a bang at the start of this month with the Make A Dentist Conference!

Dr Zaki Kanaan speaking at the conference.

What is Make A Dentist?


Make A Dentist is a charitable organisation originally set up in 2009 by the Dental students of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. 

The organisation aims to collect and send equipment as well as volunteers to Dentistry students in Zimbabwe. I attended the social event make in the summer - the masquerade ball which was great fun! This is their second year of holding the annual conference and this year the event SOLD OUT!

To find out more about the charity see their website here


What was the line up this year?


This year's line up had a great list of speakers from all areas of dentistry; there was so much information crammed into the afternoon! The speakers included:

Dr Anoop Maini - GDP Orthodontics, Friend or Foe?
Dr Attiq Rahman - Ethical Cosmetic Dentistry
Dr Raj Ahlowalia - Next Level Dentistry, the Keys to Longevity and Success
Dr Zaki Kanaan - Top Tips for Successful Tooth Whitening
Dr Andrew Chandrapal - The Art of Anterior Composites
Dr Harry Singh - Achieving Financial Freedom
Dr Bertie Napier - Dental Photography


A fantastic line-up of speakers!


Top Tips from the Speakers



1. Litigation against GDPs providing orthodontics has increased by 400% in the past few years (Anoop Maini). 

This is most a result of poor assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning. As GDPs, without in depth orthodontic training we should only consider aligning the anterior dentition i.e. Anterior Alignment Orthodontics (AAO). Pre-assessment records should include:
  • 15 photographic views
  • Study models
  • An orthodontic assessment sheet
  • Diagnosis, problem list and treatment plan


2. 99% of your veneer preparation should remain in enamel (Attiq Rahman).

I'm sure many of you like myself have been taught a typical reduction should be 0.3-0.5mm, but actually how thick is enamel? Cervical third: 0.3mm Facial third: 0.5mm Incisal third: 0.7mm. So if you were to prep 0.5mm cervically, you would lose all enamel at the margin! When planning veneers, here are some tips:
  • The teeth MUST be aligned
  • Use a chairside wax-up to visualise the end result and to help guide the technician
  • Prep through your provisionals (this is helpful if the veneers you are planning are additive)
  • DO NOT place a depth groove cervically as you will lose the enamel


3. When treating tetracycline staining with whitening, go for low strength Carbamide Peroxide (10%) over a long period of time, up to 6 months (Zaki Kanaan).

Treating in this way is the least invasive treatment although you will never get rid of the banding but the incisal half tends to lighten. When treating other developmental defects such as fluorosis/mottling, your protocol should be as follows (from least to most invasive):
  • Whitening
  • ICON
  • Microabrasion
  • Macroabrasion
  • Bonding
  • Veneer
  • Crown


4. Always take the shade of teeth pre-operatively (Andrew Chandrapal).

This can be done at the assessment appointment if you like, but always before isolation! Use a constant light source and composite 'buttons' on contra-lateral teeth may also be of use. Do not forget to inform the patient of dehydration sway. The dehydration of isolation and treatment tends to lighten teeth and therefore colour only stabilises after a few days - if you don't tell your patient this they will think your shade is wrong!



These are just a few of the tips I got from the afternoon! Thanks to all the speakers as well as the MAD committee who put on the event - can't wait to see what the 2017 conference has to offer!


Did you go the conference? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below!



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