Team efforts at BDIA Dental Showcase

Do you know the abilities you and your colleagues have in the dental practice to support your patients, or even each other?

Gaining a better understanding of the capabilities, backgrounds, interests and experiences of the entire team was a common theme at BDIA Dental Showcase 2025, which drew crowds at the ExCeL London over 14-15 March.

Alongside an array of stands from the dental trade presenting new solutions for dentists, dental nurses, dental hygienists and dental therapists alike, there were high-quality talks broaching the clinical, regulatory, and interpersonal aspects of everyday dental care.

 

Curiosity fuelled the dental team

Friday morning in the Chief Dental Officer Theatre kicked off with discussions around the evolving duties of dental therapists and dental hygienists, in light of the Human Medicines (Amendments relating to Registered Dental Hygienists, Registered Dental Therapists and Registered Pharmacy Technicians) Regulations 2024.

 

Delegates gained unique insights from:

• Richard Jacob, Programme Manager Dentistry and Optometry Contracting and System Oversight with NHS England
• Sarah Murray, Reader in Dental Therapy Education at Queen Mary University London
• Rhiannon Jones, President of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT)
• Amanda Bloomfield-Gallie, Dental Therapist and Doctoral Researcher at the University of Lincoln, for an open Q&A session

 

After the new responsibilities of appropriately trained dental hygienists and dental therapists were made understandable, Jones said: “I genuinely believe there is a lack of understanding of what each other (member of the dental team) does… We all train together, but there is a disconnect.”

 

She ruminated on the need to begin conversations amongst the team to explore each other’s clinical backgrounds, unique specialist interests, and the chances to develop their care – such as with trained dental hygienists and dental therapists administering select medications without a dentist where appropriate.

 

Pull in the same direction

When the Oral Health Theatre hosted Helen Minnery, Dental Hygienist and Past President of the BSDHT, delegates learnt more about a team approach to peri-implant disease. With engaging visuals of affected treatment sites and restorations – “I didn’t know implants could come off like that!” said Arooba Khan, an overseas graduate – and biofilm disruption advice grounded in the S3 guidelines, the talk truly explored its title ‘The good, the bad and the ugly!’

Minnery described the changed definitions of peri-implant mucositis, and gave advice on the tools dental hygienists and therapists can use for biofilm management and safe pocket probing, from metal scalers and probes to Waterpik™ water flossers. The latter are really effective for full mouth rehabilitation treatments, notes Minnery, as she said: “They do have their place”.

 

Maximising capabilities

Joycee Rebelo, Orthodontic National Group Committee Member, also took to the Oral Health Theatre and platformed the chances for orthodontic therapists to help anticipate and uncover mouth cancer.

“Usually when mouth cancer is detected, it is too late”, was the damning truth Rebelo presented – but, with appropriate training, orthodontic therapists could tackle such an issue. She argued that as orthodontic therapists see patients in routine and regular intervals, they have the chance to spot subtle changes that demand further investigation.

 

More than dentistry

As clinicians develop an understanding of each other as professionals, working to the best of their abilities to deliver effective care, there is also a need to support others as individuals.

Preetee Hylton, current President of the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN), spoke knowledgeably and compassionately about the need to raise awareness for domestic abuse. Her talk in the Oral Health Theatre discussed the responsibilities of the dental team regarding patients who may be affected by domestic abuse – including the need to record potential signs, including dental trauma, in patient notes – as well as fellow team members. It was a call that went beyond understanding each other as professionals, but also as people, and how it could all begin with a simple: “Are you okay?”

Dental nurse Jurate Lazarevaite said after the talk: “She was a great speaker, and it was an important topic for everyone – professionals and patients.

“It’s my first time at BDIA Dental Showcase in London, and I’m really enjoying it.”

 

Skills in the mix

Together, the dental team can achieve fantastic things. It takes a vision and direct aims to do so. Tim Newton, President of the Oral Health Foundation, knows this as well as most others. His leadership at the Oral Health Foundation took him to the Oral Health Theatre, where he laid out the charity’s strategy for 2030. He spoke about the need for a skill mixed approach, stating: “It’s about finding the right people for the right job.”

On the abilities of dental nurses, and those in his practice, Newton said: “They’re good at managing relationships, and they understand dentistry in a way that’s understandable to patients. Those are great skills.”

Without teams amplifying the abilities of such professionals, patients are at a loss – but to know these skills, one must first know their team.

Dental professionals, no matter their role in the team, can register their interest for the 2026 edition of BDIA Dental Showcase today.

 

BDIA Dental Showcase 

13th-14th March 2026

ExCeL London

Find out more at www.dentalshowcase.com