Over 70 Foundation Dentists and Therapists currently working in practices across the South West gathered together at the Imperial Hotel, Torquay in February 2025 for a two-day conference organised by Smile Together with Health Education England (HEE) Workforce Training & Education.
David Lee, Associate Dean for Dental and Therapy Foundation Training, opened the conference and introduced the first speaker, Smile Together’s Clinical Director Elizabeth Winfield. Liz delivered an inspiring presentation sharing her career journey and highlighting the importance of embracing change, growth, and the evolving nature of professional aspirations – reminding the foundation dentists that it’s okay to not have everything figured out and to redefine our paths along the way.
Other day 1 speakers included:
- Chief Dental Officer Jason Wong who delivered an insightful talk on NHS dentistry and the role of leadership, emphasising that everyone has the potential to be a leader and drive positive change in the profession.
- Sarah Mount Specialist in Paediatric Dentistry at Smile Together used case studies to highlight the importance of children’s dentistry, trauma management and safeguarding
- Colin McGuirk, GDP, DWSI Prosthodontics, discussed digital dentistry and how innovation can transform patient care
- Charlie Holden, Lead for Urgent Dental Care, DWSI Oral Surgery Smile Together, offered practical insights for managing dental emergencies
- Ahmen Nouno, Practice Principal Black Swan Dental Spa/Bristol Dental Suite & Director Private Dental Mentor, discussed benefits of mentorship from career development to building confidence
- Tabitha Waites, Mohammed Bittar & Yinjun Huang – GDPs and (previous Foundation Dentists) shared their experiences of life after FD training including working in a busy hospital setting
Recognising the importance of building your peer-to-peer dental network, on arrival each delegate was given a bingo card and encouraged to collect stamps throughout the two days from the different marketplace attendees. Smile Together had an interactive stand with lots of opportunities to win prizes including the steady hand challenge (game of operation) and interactive question boards. Other stands included: Henry Shein, DDU, Humphrey and Co Chartered Accountants, Ahmed Nounu Private Dental Mentor, Colgate, DecaDent, Wesleyan and Bryant Loupes.
In the evening we enjoyed a three course dinner together and a DJ.
After breakfast on day two, we reconvened in the conference room and enjoyed some outstanding presentations from more guest speakers who had very kindly agreed to contribute to the event:
- Sebastian Stracey, Associate at Humphrey and Co Accountants, who outlined those important initial financial considerations when starting out as an Associate Dentist
- Matthew Jerreat, South West Chief Regional Dental Officer who delivered an engaging session about NHS dentistry and regional leadership using an interactive presentation to gather insights from the delegates
- Brian Millar, Consultant in Restorative Dentistry and Professor of Dental Education delivered a very informative session on occlusion and splint therapy
- Phil Dawson, Associate Dean for Conduct and Performance and Non-Executive Director on the Smile Together Board discussed his journey as a vocational trainer and educational supervisor
- Ian Mills, Associate Professor of Primary Care Dentistry & Partner at Torrington Dental Practice spoke about mental health in dentistry and addressed some of the challenges faced, highlighting the importance of self-care and stress management
- Mike Twamley, GDP, Tier 2 Practitioner for Endodontics Smile Together discussed Island dentistry and life on the Isles of Scilly – the good and the bad!
- Lyn Paxman, Director EvolveYou Dental & Leadership Coach and Neuro-linguistic Programming Practitioner delivered an interactive session around teamwork, motivation and engagement
All in all the conference was a huge success, generating comments such as:
“Great event and wonderful people!”
“Thank you very much for wonderful two days. It was a new and different experience and I just wanted to let you know that we all appreciated your hard work and effort that you put into those two days.”
“A huge thank you to all who put on such an amazing session”
“Thank you for a great two days on learning, experience and hospitality!”
“Thank you so much for such a valuable experience.”
“So great to see an organisation with an out-of-the-box creative attitude and inclusivity”
“The talks were all very engaging, I liked that there were lots of shorter talks as it made the day more interesting. It was great to hear about all the career opportunities available. The hotel was really lovely and as the weather was so nice it felt like a bit of a mini holiday!”
This will undoubtedly help to retain some of these wonderful dentists in the region, ideally to work with us here in Cornwall.
