Professor Chris Peck (Associate Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Sydney University), Dr Leda Mugayar (ASSCID president), Dr Sherene Alexander (ASSCID secretary), and staff members of Special Care unit - Westmead
The 3rd International Seminar in Special Care Dentistry, Walkabout 2008, was held at the Marriott Resort & Spa at Surfers Paradise in Queensland on 29/30 May 2008. The theme for our scientific programme this year was Prevention: an enigma or reality?
The two day conference encompassed a range of topics related to dentistry for those in need of special care, touching on prevention, oral health promotion, aged care facilities, the role of the dentist and the oral health professions in the management of oral cancers and HIV diseases, and preventive dentistry following radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.
We were fortunate to have Dr Patrick Tseng, Chief Dental Officer, Singapore, as a keynote speaker for the opening presentation on both days. Dr Tseng gave an overview of the challenges ahead in providing dental care for an aging and special needs demographic.
The Queensland government was well represented by Ms Karen Struthers MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health. New South Wales and South Australia also fielded interesting guest speakers that included Drs Helen Boocock, Mark Gryst, Alannah Freer, Rhys Thomas, Pat Jackman, Kerrod Hallet Professors Laurie Walsh and Newell Johnson.
Our dynamic oral health therapists who gave us an insight in managing our special patients included Alison Dickinson, Stephen Moor, Miriam Taylor, Margaret Cullen- Ericksen and Jennifer Noller from the Oral Health Promotion network team. The conference was very well attended, and feedback indicates that attendees enjoyed the opportunity to catch up on what was happening in the world of special care dentistry.
The committee was thankful for the generous support from all our sponsors including the Queensland Health who helped in making our conference a success.
See more photographs from the conference here.
Past Conferences:
2007: Putting Our Hands Together