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BSPD building ‘Foundations for the Future’ at 2025 London conference 

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BSPD building ‘Foundations for the Future’ at 2025 London conference 

23 September 2025 (Last updated: 23 Sep 2025 09:40)

BSPD saw members gather on 11th and 12th September in their hundreds at the Society’s Annual Scientific Conference at the Royal College of Music in London’s South Kensington, which focused this year on ‘Foundations for the Future’.  The Society’s incoming President, Dr Oosh Devalia, who took over the role from Dr Shannu Bhatia, opened the two-day conference on 11th September with her welcome to delegates. She set out her vision pushing for whole-person healthcare, as she makes the roll-out of Mini Mouth Care Matters (Mini MCM), designed to train for all healthcare professionals to provide preventative oral care, her Presidential mission. 

Conference highlights included: 

The opening speaker, Paula McGowan OBE, founder of the Foundation of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training NHSE, visibly moved the audience with the story of her autistic son, Oliver who died in 2016 in his early 20s under medical care because reasonable adjustments were not made for him.  She has dedicated her time since to developing a training programme to show all healthcare professionals how to care for neurodivergent children and young people in an informed and compassionate way, guiding them to make reasonable adjustments to give them the best care possible and keep them safe. The care of children diagnosed as neurodiverse was a theme for the rest of the morning with experts showing how as dental healthcare professionals, our membership can play their part in supporting neurodiverse children.   

In the afternoon, amongst other presentations, the audience were asked to consider ‘Safeguarding Young Carers: The Role of Paediatric Dentists in Child Protection, as Postgraduate Student in Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Leeds, Abdulaziz Alkandari examined the topic.  

The following day, Professor Richard Welbury, BSPD National Conference Chair gave the welcome and opening address - and sessions in the afternoon included a focus on ‘The Importance of appearance’ in children’s oral health with Dr Maja Thornton, Senior Research Fellow, UWE Bristol presenting ‘The psychological impact of visible difference’, and Professor Susan Parekh, Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at UCL presenting ‘How the appearance of teeth can be affected in children’. 

Awards and poster prizes 

The results of the much-anticipated awards and poster prize presentations were announced during the conference. The results are as follows: 

  • Jane Goodman Clinical Governance prize: Lauren Pickles, University of Leeds, ‘Parental referral of paediatric patients to a UK dental hospital: A pilot’ 
  • Research prize (sponsored by Consultants in Paediatric Dentistry Group): Laura Johnston, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, ‘What are the oral health needs of children with phenylketonuria (PKU)?’ 
  • Clinical Prize (Sponsored by RA Medical): Hiba Al Diwani, Leeds Dental Hospital, ‘Management of a child with hypocalcified amelogenesis imperfecta, defective STIM1 and immunodeficiency-10’ 
  • DCP poster prize: Gemma Wardle, Northumbria Healthcare Trust, ‘Vaccinations alongside paediatric dental general anaesthetic: Establishing a new service in Northumbria’ 
  • Poster prize: Claudia Heggie, University of Leeds, ‘Co-design of a resource to support photobiomodulation adoption in paediatric cancer care’ 

Reflecting on the conference, BSPD’s incoming President, Dr Oosh Devalia said:  

“Foundation for the Future” was a strong theme that was brought-to-life throughout the two days of the conference.  We know how important prevention is when it comes to children’s oral health and as I listened to the presentations, I reflected on how determined and creative we must all be to look for every opportunity to protect children’s teeth and gums to ensure that they can smile with confidence in the future.  

“I am passionate about whole-person healthcare and the year ahead will be my opportunity to support Mini Mouth Care Matters (Mini MCM). This programme, to give mandatory training for all healthcare professionals seeing children in their care, has already been expanded to numerous healthcare settings and is endorsed by BSPD and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). However, I am determined to go further and push for Mini MCM to receive systemwide support and become part of the standard healthcare toolkit. Watch this space!” 

For further information contact: Kate Clark, kate@kateclarkpr.co.uk / 07990 525639 

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