'Education to the world' was the opening message delivered by Dr Dhru Shah, CEO and Founder of dentinaltubules.com, at its inaugural congress. His strong ethos for bridging the gaps between dental education inequalities neatly framed the two-day event on 5-6 October 2017 at The Grove, Watford.

The first day saw delegates attending one of five hands-on workshops. These ran simultaneously and gave attendees the opportunity to develop their practical skills in their chosen areas like sinus lift procedures, periodontal flap surgery, implant surgery, preparations for indirect restorations, impressions, temporaries and cementation and composite Class IV restorations.

Fran attended the impressions, temporaries and cementation course led by Dr Akit Patel. This covered a range of practical issues encountered at these stages of indirect fixed prostheses. They were given the time and opportunity to learn, practise and simulate repeatable solutions and delegates agreed that their impression taking skills of crown preparations improved significantly from this session.

The passion Dr Patel showed towards restorative dentistry seemed to be driven from the cases he had learnt from the most. In turn, it created a safe environment in which delegates could openly discuss their previous practical failures. The culture Dr Patel created that day lent itself to open and reflective discussions from delegates, acceptance of their previous errors, and a drive to improve outcomes of their clinical competency.

Clifton attended the Class IV composite restoration session run by Jason Smithson and Thomas Taha. Delegates followed a live step-by-step demonstration from Smithson, focussing on each step of the procedure aiming to achieve the highest quality before moving on to the next. Dr Smithson showed the nuances of this seemingly simple treatment, and how it is possible to achieve the best aesthetic results. The two speakers fostered a relaxed environment of shared learning, allowing delegates to ask questions freely during the session, and seek feedback on the work created. These rigorously structured approaches to dental treatment supports reproducible, high quality dental work, and mitigates human error.

Day 2 of the Congress saw a procession of world class speakers giving their 'Top Tips'. The practical tricks and guidance they shared appeared ideal for the general dental practitioner, who could easily incorporate them into daily working by the Monday morning.

Giulio Rasperini used his extensive research base to highlight the importance of the initial phase of non-surgical periodontal treatment to manage the severely compromised periodontal patient. Carlo Poggio complemented his presentation by discussing the attention to detail in which he develops his 'pink/white interface' or emergence profiles, including top tips on how to discern the correct biotype.

James Baker showed a step-by-step video of a full mouth composite reconstruction on a severe wear case. Not only did this capture his artistry and dexterity, it facilitated timely tips and visual aids to create that perfect, aesthetic restoration. Jason Smithson followed, showing three incredible clinical cases, each demonstrating certain composite approaches, with great advice as to how these processes could be easily applied in every day practice.

Finlay Sutton (who has an article in this issue of the BDJ) took to the stage to showcase his craftsmanship for patients requiring full dentures. From the initial consultation, to fit, he took us on their journey and demonstrated a truly holistic approach to patient-centred dentistry. His ability to listen and be guided by their wishes and expectations is a reflection on how he consistently recreates patient smiles with unforgiving attention to detail.

Finally, Dr Alessandro Conti, Dr Roberto Rossi and dental technician Davide Bertazzo presented clinical case discussions each from a different perspective, demonstrating the importance of good communication, and the team approach to management of these patients.

As junior dentists, conferences can sometimes leave you feeling out of your depth. What makes this congress unique is that you are surrounded by like-minded individuals, eager to learn and develop their skills, and from all different stages in their career. We both left feeling educated, inspired and motivated! Not a bad way to start the weekend.