More than a Congress – a place to be inspired
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 1st June 2022
The ADI Team Congress 2022 delivered excellent learning and networking opportunities in Manchester this year, enabling members and non-members alike to finally come together to share best practice and innovative ideas. The Congress offered something for every member of the dental implant team, and was a platform to connect with colleagues from across dental implantology.
The event presented a day of hands-on workshops to get things going, with a variety of dental manufacturers and suppliers leading sessions on an array of topics. These included Biohorizons Camlog, Dentsply Sirona, Geitstlich Biomaterials, Southern Implants, Straumann, Sweden & Martina and Zirkonzhan, covering soft tissue grafting techniques and materials, the digital workflow, immediacy and more.
The ADI Team Congress officially opened with wise words from Immediate Past President, Eimear O’Connell. She shared her own story of overcoming her fears about public speaking to encourage everyone to do the same. Proud to be the first ever female ADI President, she told delegates that “each of you can do whatever you want to if you put your mind to it”. She highlighted how important it was to be open to new things and to push ourselves outside our comfort zones. She amusingly introduced the Congress theme – The Great Debate – with a Monty Python skit and got the audience up on their feet to dance and get moving for an energetic start to the ADI Team Congress 2022.
After the event, Eimear commented:
“It was amazing to finally get everyone together for a large-scale educational event. We brought top speakers from all over the world to share their knowledge and experience with us and to push us to think outside our comfort zones – perhaps think about adopting new technologies or techniques to deliver even better outcomes for our patients. With the help of our industry partners we also hosted top clinicians giving hands-on classes to delegates. The feedback has been exceptional.
“It was a delight to be in such an open and spacious event space to interact with industry partners, colleagues and friends. It was simply wonderful to have so many lovely social outings allowing us to relax and have some fun after so many years being isolated from one another.
“Hopefully delegates took away some new concepts and also enjoyed the socialising. Many people commented on how open, friendly and diverse the meeting was and it appealed to everyone in the dental team as we had concurrent programmes for technicians, practice managers, dental nurses and dental hygienist/therapists.
Thanks to everyone who came to the event and remember we have a joint event with the Osteology Foundation in November!”
The day that followed provided an in-depth Plenary Programme with industry-leading speakers offering a wealth of clinical evidence and personal experiences regarding various techniques. Daniel Thomas explored the benefits of ridge preservation, Sonia Leziy discussed immediacy and Snjezana Pohl highlighted the potential of the socket shield protocol and partial extraction therapies. The speakers put forward eloquent cases for their respective concepts, before coming together as a panel to passionately debate their views and offer counter arguments to each other’s key points.
“My favourite session was Sonia Leziy’s – she was to the point and concise and what she discussed was directly relevant to what we need to learn. She also self-critiqued her work, which I really appreciated, and she had a lot of knowledge on why she was doing what she did. This was very powerful and I took away a lot. This is the first time I have attended the ADI Team Congress and I’ve really enjoyed it.” – Delegate, Dr Kunal Shah, LeoDental.
The debates continued after lunch, with Rino Burkhardt considering whether there is a case for the envelope technique, while Otto Zuhr took a more clinical approach to compare envelope and tunnel techniques. Marc Quirynen took delegates into platelet rich concentrates after lunch, before the day closed with another joint discussion as the panel answered questions from the audience.
After Congress Drinks in the exhibition hall and an evening spent with friends, everyone was back to it on Saturday morning for the next round of discussions. Álvaro de la Riva, Klaus Gotfredson and Marcus Abboud debated full arch prosthetic solutions, splinting and digital technology in the field. The afternoon sessions took an even more practical approach, with Koray Feran and Rob Oretti presenting real-life case studies for the panel, and the audience, to discuss potential treatment options.
Reflecting on the event in general, delegate Dr Sunkanmi Olaore commented:
“This was the first time I’ve attended the ADI Team Congress and I was looking to connect with other clinicians and see what’s out there. The soft tissue masterclass was very good – I picked up a few things and found it thoroughly enjoyable. The whole speaker line-up for the event has been great, they all seem very approachable and have covered a lot of relevant topics. Having access to the exhibition and being able to connect with people I know has been great too.”
As part of proceedings, the ADI Poster Competition winner was announced – “An 8-year review of buccal bone stability in the anterior maxilla after implant placement alongside simultaneous guided bone regeneration” by David Furze, Naved Soomro, Graham Browning and Josh Sharpling. Three ADI Honorary Memberships were also awarded, acknowledging the exceptional dedication of Abid Faquir, Bill Schaeffer and Professor Danny Buser.
Of course, we can’t mention the ADI Team Congress without a word about the legendary Congress Dinner on Saturday evening. Everyone got dressed up for the glittering Roaring Twenties-themed event at the stunning Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – safe to say there was a sore head or two in the morning following extensive festivities!
Amit Patel, current ADI President, added:
“This was a fantastic event – after all the delays caused by Covid, it was great to finally be able to meet up with colleagues from across the dental implant field. It’s the perfect place to network and enjoy some time with friends – which I think we have all really missed. Everyone I spoke to seemed to really appreciate the educational programme and I certainly took plenty away that I can use in my own practice. Many congratulations are due to Eimear for putting together and presenting such an exceptional event.”
Little could have dampened spirits at the ADI Team Congress 2022, with everyone enjoying the chance to get together once again. The next event will be held in 2023 – watch this space for details!
The ADI Team Congress 2023 will be held on 4-6 May at the Birmingham ICC. Visit the website for details in due course. ADI members get significantly discounted rates for all ADI events.
