Key points

  • Raises awareness of the role of the British Society of Periodontology.

  • Highlights the BSP as a leader in public engagement, education and policy.

  • Increases the knowledge of the benefits of BSP membership.

The structure of the society

The British Society of Periodontology (BSP) is a thriving society of over 1,400 members made up of specialists, general practitioners, hygiene therapists, hygienists and both postgraduate and undergraduate students. The day-to-day running of the society is supported by the executive general manager, together with the education and events manager. The president of the BSP holds office for one year but is on the council for a four-year cycle, including two years as president-elect and one year as past-president. The honorary secretary and honorary treasurer are the linchpins of the society and serve for a four-year period and can be then re-elected for another four years.

The BSP council consists of 14 voting members and meets four times a year. Other important BSP groups, which meet regularly, are the operational planning group and the education and events group. The BSP produces a strategic plan which states clear objectives for the society over the next five years and the routes needed to achieve them. The latest strategic plan was presented to the membership at the BSP annual meeting in Brighton in April 2019.

European Federation of Periodontology

The BSP is one of 30 societies which make up the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP). The BSP are well represented within the EFP executive committee, as Professor Iain Chapple is past secretary general of EFP (2014-2019) and Professor Nicola West was elected to replace him (2019-2024). The management of EFP regularly communicates with the BSP president and the EFP delegate regarding partnership projects, the annual gum health awareness day and the EuroPerio conference, which is held every three years. The president and the EFP delegate attend the annual general meeting of the EFP general assembly which takes place in the country of origin of the EFP president. EuroPerio 9, in 2018, was held in Amsterdam and was a huge success with presentations given by many BSP members at symposia and research sessions. The UK had the third highest number of attendees.

BSP annual conference

A major focus in the presidential year is the BSP annual conference. The theme and programme for the conference are chosen by the president together with a scientific advisor and approved by the education and events group before being presented to council. The president chooses the city in which the conference will take place and, with the help of the education and events manager, the venue. In the afternoon preceding the conference, the president chairs the annual general meeting of the society and gives a presidential address on their chosen subject. The Sir Wilfred Fish Research Prize presentations take place after the AGM, together with the Teachers', Practitioners' and Early Career Groups sessions. The chairs of the respective groups arrange the lecturers for these sessions. The main conference runs over two days. As well as the educational programme there is a lively social programme.

BSP activities

The BSP is involved in many areas of public engagement, education and policy. What follows gives an insight into these activities.

Public engagement

Tooth decay and gum disease

The Perio and Caries partner project was launched by the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) in January 2018. A subsequent report and the recommendation brochures were compiled by the BSP's honorary secretary, Professor Nicola West, based on the consensus reports of the EFP's 2016 workshop and these are available on the BSP website for patients and professionals to access (http://www.bsperio.org.uk/professional/perioandcaries/PerioCaries_Recommendations_Public.pdf).

Gum Health Awareness Campaign 2018: 'A lifetime of smiling'

The BSP was invited by the Chief Dental Officer to contribute to 'Top tips for children's oral health' and council member Dr Claire Field collated and submitted a comprehensive document in a short turnaround time. This was used to create three infographics; one for patients and carers, one for dental professionals and one for non-dental healthcare professionals including health visitors, doctors and pharmacists. These and the infographics from the EFP pregnancy project, modified for a British audience, were used for the Gum Health Awareness Campaign 2018 which ran throughout the summer (http://www.bsperio.org.uk/patients/gumhealthday2018/index.html).

British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show

The BSP stand at the annual British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show in Birmingham is attended by the management team and the president. They spend time speaking to dental professionals and members of the dental industry about BSP and hand out information packs with posters and copies of the Good practitioners' guide as well as the patient information leaflet, which continues to be very popular.

Patient forum

The second patient forum was held in London in early July 2018 and funded by our partner GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Seven patients attended. Professor Ian Needleman and Dr Penny Hodge were privileged to hear from those who are committed to spreading the word of the importance of periodontal health. The forum has already contributed to the new patient information leaflet and will have input into the development of all new patient information resources produced by the society.

Education

As well as the annual conference, the society has a full calendar of educational activities.

Early Career Group

In March 2018 the Early Career Group (ECG) ran the last part of the leadership course, which was funded by one of the BSP partners, Oral B. In January 2019 the ECG organised a hands-on regenerative surgical techniques course funded by Straumann. The ECG have also been working hard to produce a series of new patient information leaflets which will be available on the website in 2019.

Webinars

Nine webinars were delivered via the BSP during 2018 on various topics including one on the new GDPR regulations, which was given just before they came into effect. Oral B funded four webinars on the 2017 World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-implant Diseases and Conditions, which were delivered between September 2018 and February 2019 by Professors Iain Chapple, Ian Needleman, Francis Hughes and Nikos Donos. The interest in these was phenomenal, with up to around 2,500 registrations and 800 viewing the webinars live on the night. Those who registered were able to view the webinars at no charge. The webinars are freely available to anyone who would like to view them on the BSP website.

Implementation plan

A group of BSP members made up of academics and practitioners have developed a BSP implementation plan using the 2017 Classification of Periodontal Diseases and Conditions in general dental practice and this was published in the BDJ in January 2019. This will be reviewed following feedback from practitioners. A laminated flowchart of the implementation plan was produced and distributed to dental practitioners throughout the UK.

OH challenge

Professor Nicola West and Dr Penny Hodge took part, on behalf of BSP, in Johnson and Johnson's 'OH challenge!' event in March 2018. This brought together opinion leaders in the profession to create a vision for all dental professionals to help improve patients' oral health.

CPD

Last year the General Dental Council (GDC) introduced new regulations for providers of continuing professional development (CPD). To fulfil these regulations an education governance policy and an equality, diversity and inclusion policy were developed, which are available to view on the BSP website. Since the introduction of the new regulations, two members of council now independently screen the aims and objectives and map them to the GDC development outcomes of all educational material which is provided by the BSP.

Policy

In 2018 members of the BSP have been instrumental in developing policies and offering expert advice on a number of topics including:

  • Dr Mike Milward provided feedback from the BSP into the periodontal curriculum for the tier 2 pathway

  • Dr Mark Ide, this year's president, is representing the BSP in the development of SNOMED CT coding in secondary care by NHS England and has formed a small team to help him, including Dr Manoj Tank, Chair of the ECG (2018)

  • Members Professors Ian Needleman, Francesco D'Aiuto and Philip Preshaw have advised NHS England, Health Education England and the Office of the Chief Dental Officer on the diabetes and oral health project. Professor Iain Chapple represented the EFP on the project

  • NHS England are using the infographics produced by the BSP, together with the online patient forum diabetes.co.uk, for the 2017 gum health awareness campaign to raise awareness of the risk of periodontal disease in patients with diabetes

  • Dr Mark Ide gave a presentation on behalf of BSP at the Health Education England training day in November 2017

  • Dr Penny Hodge has been liaised with the GDC on behalf of the BSP as part of the 'Shifting the balance: leadership network'.