News

The Frank Ashley Undergraduate Prize is awarded to encourage dental undergraduates at UK dental schools to undertake a project with a clear periodontal educational benefit. This year we are delighted to award the prize to Emily Davison, from the University of Glasgow Dental School.

Congratulations to former BSP President, Professor Iain Chapple, who has been awarded the 2018 Distinguished Scientist Award for Research in Periodontal Disease by the International Association for Dental Research. The prestigious award was presented at the IADR conference in London on 25th July, in recognition of Professor Chapple’s significant contribution to the field of oral health research.

The BSP Patient Forum met again in July and had an extremely successful meeting. It was very encouraging to see again most of the participants from 2017 and we were joined by a number of new members. The purpose of the Forum is to give a voice to the community and help shape the future of gum health in the UK and to work with our Society. The Patient Forum members shared their experiences and ideas and provided an invaluable insight into the challenges faced by patients and of areas that could be developed moving forwards. Professor Needleman and Dr Penny Hodge reflected on the meeting and said, “We felt privileged to work with such a creative, caring and passionate group. It was an extremely productive day and the level of discussion was remarkable. The BSP will now take on board the experiences and ideas shared at the meeting as we continue our mission to improve care, research and awareness about gum health. It is hard to overstate the uniqueness and importance of the Forum. We would like to thank all the members of the Patient Forum for giving up their time to support us in this important initiative and a special thank you to GSK-Oral Health for supporting the event.” The BSP Patient Forum will continue to work together to accomplish further advancements in the care of patients with periodontitis.

Following the recent, very successful, EuroPerio9 conference in Amsterdam, and the announcement made there concerning the New Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions, we shared with our members a press release from the EFP. This provided the background to the work undertaken to reach this stage and links to the full information now available online via the Journal of Clinical Periodontology (EFP) and Journal of Periodontology (AAP).

As part of our Gum Health Awareness campaign, called ‘A Lifetime of Smiling’, we have been raising the awareness of gum health. Establishing good oral health habits in childhood will help prevent gum disease in adulthood. To support this, the society produced a series of educational materials aimed at children, parents and carers; dental professionals; and healthcare professionals.

It is with deep sadness that the British Society of Periodontology records the death of Professor D Walter Cohen, who was made an Honorary Member of the BSP in 1973.

On 15 March, Johnson & Johnson hosted The OH! Panel at the British Dental Association in London. Chaired by Stephen Hancocks, it brought together eight key opinion leaders in dentistry: Ben Atkins; Julie Deverick; Penny Hodge; Tim Newton; Anthony Roberts; Julie Rosse; Nicola West; and Helen Whelton.

We were delighted to congratulate Emily Davison for being one of the UK winners of the EFP undergraduate essay prize. Emily, from the University of Glasgow Dental School, was awarded with her winning certificate by Professor Philip Preshaw, at EuroPerio 9 in Amsterdam. You may wish to read Emily's winning essay, entitled, “Why I would consider a career in periodontology”.

The British Society of Periodontology (BSP) joined 28 other European societies to support Gum Health Awareness Day that takes place annually on 12 May.