Liam Fletcher has emerged as the overall national winner in the inaugural research competition aimed at UK foundation dentists who are working on impactful projects to improve periodontal care. This competition was launched last year by Dental Protection in collaboration with the MPS Foundation, a global non-profit initiative focused on enhancing patient safety.
Fletcher’s winning project targeted improvements in periodontal care and record-keeping at a general dental practice. It aimed to align practices with the British Society of Periodontology’s guidelines titled “Delivering phased-care for periodontitis patients under the units of dental activity (UDA) banding in England: Road map to prevention and stabilization.” An initial audit revealed that 14 out of 28 domains did not meet the ideal standard. Through process mapping and peer review, significant improvements were made, with 12 of the 14 domains being successfully documented in the final review.
The regional winners included Hong Yee Lee from the Southwest, who examined how to effectively provide periodontal treatment while respecting patient boundaries and addressing dental anxiety. Adam Rahman, the Midlands regional winner, focused on commonly overlooked advice related to smoking and periodontal disease in general dental practices. Jay Patel, from Yorkshire and Humber, researched non-surgical periodontal therapy for managing intra-bony defects.
Professor Callum Youngson, Chair of the Dental Board at MPS, expressed his delight in announcing the winners of this first-ever competition for foundation dentists. He praised their exceptional work on managing periodontal health, which is applicable in general dental practice. Youngson emphasized that these projects exemplify the goal of fostering expertise among early-career dentists in critical areas like patient safety and risk reduction.
He also announced that the next Dental Protection research competition for foundation dentists launched on October 14, 2024. The competition invites project submissions related to professionalism, communication, leadership, management, or clinical aspects concerning patient safety and risk mitigation. The national winner will receive £1,000, while each regional winner will be awarded £350.
The portal for the UK Foundation Dentists Competition is now open for registration. Foundation dentists can express their interest and review the submission criteria at the designated competition website. The deadline for entries is July 31, 2025.
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