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Published: Friday, 17 June 2022 10:13

Written by Peter Ingle

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The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) has announced the winners of two annual awards that recognise vision and endeavour in the field of paediatric dentistry. 

The BSPD’s mission is to improve the oral health of children and young people. Unlike some specialist societies membership is open to anyone in the dental profession with an interest in children’s oral health.

The Max Horsnell Travel Award & National Student Elective Prize for 2022 were won by Annabelle Carter and Lilam Rai, following a judging process for both that is overseen by three members of BSPD’s Conference Abstract and Prize Committee (CAPC).

The BSPD Max Horsnell Travel Award was established to support BSPD members who wish to present a poster or oral communication at scientific meetings of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry or the International Association of Paediatric Dentistry. An award of £500 is given towards travel costs to relevant dentistry conferences per annum.

Annabelle Carter is a Clinical Lecturer at Leeds Dental Hospital, as well as working as a Specialist Paediatric Dentist in practice. Her winning paper was entitled: Oral Health and Respiratory Health of Tube-Fed Children. The objective of her poster is to determine the incidence of significant chest infections or aspiration pneumonia for tube-fed children in Bradford.  92 patient records were reviewed between 2018-2020. Conclusions showed that tube-fed children are susceptible to respiratory infections and present with varying oral health. Further research is required to understand the link between oral health and respiratory health and what dental treatment regimens are required to optimise oral health, and subsequently respiratory health, for these vulnerable children.

Lilam Rai won the BSPD National Student Elective Prize 2022. This competition was open to BSPD student members who are intending to undertake an elective project within the year. Students submitted a summary of a maximum of 250 words, describing their proposed elective project involving the dental health of children. The winning student will have to submit a short report on their elective project once completed. One award of the value of £300 is given for the National Student Elective Prize to support the student’s elective project.

Lilam Rai, a student at King’s College London, submitted the winning elective project entitled: Dental aid to the children of Nepal. Lilam explained that dental professionals can grow personally and professionally when they step beyond the walls of their dental practice. With this in mind, Lilam will be using this elective as an opportunity to go back to her country of birth, Nepal, and give back to the community where people are devoid of basic dental care and oral health education. During Lilam’s elective, she will be joining a charity organisation, ‘Travel Dentistry Nepal’, run by Nepali dentists. She will visit a community school and apply the skills learned from dental school to provide dental check-ups and supervised treatments to children. The treatments provided will range from prevention using fluoride varnish and/or fissure sealant, restorations with either glass ionomer cement, amalgam and/or composite, as well as extractions. She and her team expect to treat around 500 children over the course of ten days. In addition, she will help deliver oral health education and demonstrate good oral hygiene techniques to the children and their parents. They will also be distributing free oral hygiene aids.

Chair of the BSPD Conference Abstracts and Prizes Committee, Dr Chris Vernazza, said: “We were impressed with the high number and quality of the applications for both prizes this year for the Max Horsnell Travel Award and National Student Elective Prize. The vision and insight demonstrated by applicants indicates a bright future for the paediatric dentistry profession.”

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