It is a privilege to serve as Chair of Student Engagement for the BACD and to represent the next generation of dentists within the Academy.

My own journey with the BACD began two years ago as a student representative. Since then, I have felt included in a community that has shaped how I see my career, and I am keen for other students to benefit in the same way.

Cosmetic and restorative dentistry is a field that many students are drawn to, but few get meaningful exposure to before they qualify. Our aim is to change that by creating a space where students and recent graduates can learn from leading clinicians, ask questions, and feel part of the BACD community from the very start of their careers.

If you are a student or a newly qualified dentist, please do come and say hello. I would love to hear what you want from the Academy and how we can make your involvement even more valuable. I hope you leave the conference inspired, better connected, and with a clear sense of where you want to take your own development.

I would like to thank all of our speakers and the wider BACD team for their generosity in supporting students. I look forward to meeting you and hope you enjoy the conference.

It is a real privilege to serve as Trade Director for the BACD and to have the opportunity to work alongside such a passionate group of clinicians, industry partners and supporters of the Academy.

I would like to start by extending a huge thank you to Doug Watt, my predecessor as Trade Director.  Doug has done an incredible job of developing and nurturing the BACD’s relationships with our trade partners over the years, and I feel very fortunate to be taking over a role where those relationships have been left in such good hands. I hope to follow in his footsteps, continue the fantastic work he has done and build upon the strong foundations he has created.

One of the things I have quickly come to appreciate in this role is just how important the relationship between the BACD and our trade partners really is. Their support enables us to continue delivering high-quality education, events and opportunities for our members, while keeping the Academy connected with the latest developments, materials, technology and innovation within dentistry.

For me, being Trade Director is about much more than sponsorship. It is about developing genuine, long-term relationships with companies that share the values of the BACD and creating partnerships where our members, our trade partners and the Academy can all benefit.

I would therefore like to say a huge thank you to every company supporting the BACD this year. Whether you are exhibiting, sponsoring, attending our events or supporting the Academy throughout the year, your contribution is genuinely appreciated and plays such an important part in what we are able to achieve.

I am really looking forward to building on these relationships, welcoming both familiar and new faces and continuing to create opportunities for our members and trade partners to connect.

Please do come and say hello throughout the conference. I am always keen to hear from our trade partners and members about how we can continue to strengthen these relationships and make working with the BACD even better.

I hope you have a fantastic conference.

One of the greatest strengths of BACD over the years is the wonderful community we share – one built on friendship, collaboration and a genuine willingness to learn from and support one another. It is our members who make BACD so special, and together we can continue to learn, grow and inspire one another for many years to come.

This, our 22nd Annual Conference is a celebration of this spirit, bringing us together to enjoy inspiring talks from world-class speakers, exchange ideas, make new connections and reconnect with friends and colleagues.

I warmly encourage you all to embrace everything this year’s conference has to offer. Take the opportunity to share your experiences, learn something new and be part of the conversations that will no doubt push boundaries, and shape the future of our profession.

I look forward to welcoming you all. Let’s make this conference truly memorable — together!

Onwards and upwards!

A warm welcome to the 2026 BACD Conference. I can hardly believe a whole year has passed since I was elected to the Board of Directors, but as they say, time flies when you’re having fun!

It has been a real privilege to serve as Young Membership Director and Chair of the Young Membership Committee. A highlight of my year was our sold-out Young Dentist Day, which reflects the academies commitment to inspiring early-career dentists to pursue excellence. Seeing a room so full of enthusiasm and ambition reminded me why grass roots dentistry is so important.

I find it genuinely humbling to meet so many talented young professionals who are choosing to engage with our incredible Academy. They are the Accredited Members of tomorrow, and quite possibly our future Presidents. I can’t wait to see where their journeys take them.

Over the coming year, I look forward to building on this momentum and finding even more ways to support those at the start of their careers. Thank you to my fellow board and committee members for their hard work and support, and to all of you for being here. Whether this is your first BACD conference or your twenty second, I hope you leave feeling inspired, connected and proud to be part of this community.

Enjoy the conference!

As Vice President, this year, I have gained a much greater handle on the finances and running of the BACD with a great deal of help from our current President. I look forward to presenting the accounts at our AGM. The knowledge I have gained in the last year on the running of the BACD has been invaluable. I look forward to a much greater engagement with the dental trade in the next year and building these relationships to strengthen the position of our Academy.

This year I have also produced an article for Aesthetic update publication and also an article for publication in the BDJ, both on behalf of BACD. This increases our partnerships with the dental press and achieves reciprocal advertising of our events.

As Vice Chair of accreditation, I continue to engage with the early careers network and accreditation WhatsApp’s. These have definitely increased engagement in accreditation. Moving forward I have introduced almost a mandatory requirement for all accreditation candidates to have a mentor who would be an accredited member with a view to guiding, in a more orderly fashion, candidates’ submission of cases. I am also looking forward to judging this years awards and presenting at conference. The roll out of the digital badging for full accreditation and individual cases is also imminent and I shall oversee that.

Welcome to Future Frontiers.  Since joining the Academy in 2017, the BACD has shaped the clinician I am and the one I aspire to be.

As Chief Marketing Officer, I’ve spent my time on board rebuilding how the Academy communicates.  I restructured our communications platforms, sourced new suppliers, and brought our contractors together under one centralised team.  I now oversee our PR, social media and event branding.  We’re also rebuilding our website so it truly serves members, and we’ve launched Prepless – The BACD Podcast, a series of honest, unfiltered conversations with the people shaping our profession.

For me, the next frontier in dentistry is about seeing the mouth as part of the whole person.  That means combining artistry with prevention, and excellence with integrity. The BACD is where those conversations are happening.

Some of my closest friends and most generous mentors came to me through the BACD, and they have meant more to me than I could have imagined when I first joined. More than anything, I want to protect what makes this community special, so that future generations of dentists find the same sense of belonging I have.

If you see me, please come over to say hello, chat and find out what the BACD can do for you.

It is a real privilege to serve as Scientific Director of the BACD and to have the opportunity to help shape the scientific programme for the Academy.

For me, the strength of a great conference lies in bringing together clinicians who not only inspire us, but also challenge the way we think and give us ideas which can genuinely influence the way we practise.  This year’s programme has been built with exactly that in mind, bringing together an outstanding group of speakers from the UK and around the world, covering a broad range of topics across contemporary cosmetic and restorative dentistry.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of our speakers for giving their time, expertise and support to the Academy.  I would also like to give particular thanks to Jasmine Piran, my predecessor as Scientific Director, who was pivotal in shaping the main body of this year’s programme, and whose work laid much of the foundation for the conference we are able to present today.

I hope you leave the conference inspired, with new ideas, new perspectives and, most importantly, something that you can take back into your own clinical practice.

I look forward to welcoming you and hope you enjoy the conference.

I am delighted to welcome you to our 20th annual conference, it’s incredible to think how the academy has grown and changed in that time. I attended my first BACD conference in 2007 and I can honestly say that the people I have met and what I have learnt shaped my career and the practice that I built. I am honoured that I will be taking over the Presidency in 2025 and hope to continue to grow and support the academy.

We have an amazing line up of speakers this year and next, as well as some superb events planned throughout the year. Please come and say hello to me, I really want to understand what you want as members so that I can deliver that for you during my Presidency.

As President-Elect of the BACD, it is a pleasure to welcome you to this year’s conference – a new chapter for our Academy as we explore a two-day format.

Evolving from our traditional programme reflects our commitment to modernising how we deliver education, creating a focused opportunity to learn, connect and challenge our thinking. Our ambition is to shape the future of dental education, with the curiosity to question established approaches and the confidence to forge new directions. I encourage you to embrace these two days: engage with our speakers, exchange ideas with colleagues and seek out perspectives that will strengthen your clinical practice. Together, we can turn shared knowledge into meaningful progress for our profession and the patients we serve.

The BACD has been the biggest game changer for my career within dentistry over the past 14 years. I am fortunate to have made strong friendships, found invaluable mentorship, and learned a great deal about myself and where I feel I can add value to the profession. Working purely within cosmetic dentistry both clinically and in teaching roles, my clinical practice is limited to minimal preparation porcelain smile makeovers and treating patients with tooth wear. I believe that there has been an immense shift in the expectation levels our patients hold, and how safety in cosmetic dentistry is now paramount, which is where I see the BACD at the forefront. If you see me, come over to say hello, chat and find out what the BACD can do for you.

Accreditation continues to be a core pillar underlying the ethos of the BACD, shaping the educational content we provide, while recognising the commitment of our members to providing clinical excellence.

With the introduction of a more progressive entry point to the process, the creation of our accreditation mentoring support network and the introduction of our annual BACD clinical case awards, there has never been a better time to engage in accreditation and the educational opportunities the BACD provides.

As chair of accreditation, my goal for this coming year is to continue to support and inspire our members to participate in accreditation, while enhancing the benefits and recognition of the process, both within and outside the academy.

Welcome to the BACD 2026 Annual Conference!

My journey with the BACD began 11 years ago when I attended my first conference as a student representative. Little did I know then just how instrumental the Academy would become in shaping my career. Beyond the exceptional education, it is the friendships, mentorship and sense of community that have made the BACD such an important part of my professional journey.

I now have the privilege of serving as Director of Membership. Having experienced first-hand the opportunities the Academy can offer, I am passionate about ensuring that every member, regardless of their stage of career, feels supported, connected and valued. For me, membership extends beyond education; it is about being part of a community that encourages professional growth, inspires new ideas and celebrates achievements together.

This year, I have also had the pleasure of organising our Gala Dinner, bringing together the Academy for an evening of celebration, friendship and a little Narnian magic! It is an opportunity to celebrate the people who make our community so special and create memories beyond the lecture theatre.

Whether this is your first conference or one of many, I encourage you to embrace everything these two days have to offer. Engage with our speakers, reconnect with colleagues and make new connections. Please do come and say hello, I would love to hear about your experiences and how we can continue to make your BACD membership even more valuable.

I look forward to welcoming you to the conference and celebrating together at the Gala Dinner.

Enjoy the next two days!

I’ve spent more than 45 years at the bench, and I still enjoy the challenge of creating restorations to the exacting standards which BACD member clinicians demand.

Those standards depend on people: skilled, qualified, GDC-registered dental technicians and right now, that workforce is under real pressure.  Many experienced technicians are retiring, too few younger people are entering the profession, increasingly and worryingly UK work is being sent overseas, where registration, traceability and accountability cannot always be guaranteed. If this continues, UK dentists may soon find it hard to get the quality of lab support their patients deserve.

As the only technician on the BACD board, I’m in a unique position to connect our member dentists and technicians, and to speak up for both. I firmly believe the best results come when dentist and technician work as one team, with the patient at the heart of every decision.

At this year’s conference, I’d love to talk with anyone who shares that belief, whether you’re a dentist, a technician, or someone thinking about joining our profession.