Note: Conference date: 17th October 2025, please ignore 1st July 2025 as this is a technical issue NIMDTA are working to resolve.

Main Stage: 'Focus on Diagnosis'

Aim

To provide dental professionals with an opportunity to reflect on the process of patient diagnosis in General Dental Practice and discover techniques to assist them to do this more effectively.

Objectives

By the end of the conference you will be able to:

·        Identify occlusal issues and how this impacts your patient diagnosis

·        Explore the area of temporal mandibular disfunction and when to refer patients and what resources are available to assist patients.

·        Identify when patients may be suffering from sleep disorders, how and when to refer.

·        Explore using artificial intelligence tools to assist you within your practice.

·        Review the use of cone beam imaging within dentistry

·        Identify how to manage carious 6’s in general dental practice including the painful tooth.

·        Address the issues of interfacing with laboratories and interactively identify clinicopathological biopsies, white/ red patches and oral malignancies.

Learning content: This conference will be mainly lecture based giving an opportunity to reflect and grow in relation to how to diagnose and correctly refer patients within general practice.

GDC outcome: A, B, C, D

Parallel session: 'Supporting our Patients'

Aim

To provide dental care professionals with an opportunity to reflect and improve how to support patients in general dental practice.

Objectives:

By the end of the conference you will be able to:

·        Outline the Northern Ireland Children’s Oral Health Improvement Plan and Older Person’s Oral Health Improvement Plan.

·        Review what neurodiversity means and reflect on patients treated within general practice.

·        Identify key tips for getting paediatric nervous patients into the dental chair.

·        Recognise patients with dementia and consider management and consent within general practice.

·        Identify skills to support deaf and hard of hearing people.

Learning content

This conference will be mainly lecture based giving an opportunity to reflect and grow in relation to how to support patients in general practice.

GDC outcome: A, B, C, D