Visions for 2004 and beyond

The 9th Singapore International Dental Exhibition and Conference was held from July 8-11 at the Meritus Mandarin Hotel.

The program was organized by Dr Peter Tay and Dr P. C. Phua of the Orchard Dental Centre and co-sponsored by the Aesthetic Dentistry Society (Singapore), College of General Dental Practitioners (Singapore), Pan Pacific Dental Institute (Hawaii) and the Prosthodontic Society of Singapore.

The great array of speakers had a Pacific rim emphasis and the topics covered ranged from clinical to management and the soft skills necessary to compliment them. Clinical lectures included all aspects of implant dentistry: immediate load; implants for the edentulous; advanced surgical techniques; and aesthetic and functional outcomes. On the soft skills side there was an emphasis on customer service and practice management. It was very interesting to hear the clinical side of dentistry integrated with the concepts of patient service and staff excellence.

Australia's contributions came from Dr Ben Ong who spoke on "The Magic Wand of Dentistry: Lasers in Modern Dental Practices", while Ms Kathleen McKellar (consultant with practice management consultancy DDS) gave a workshop on "Hiring the Right Staff" and then a practice management lecture titled "All Practice Systems Orchestrated".

The 10th Singapore Int'l Dental Exhibition and Conference is scheduled for 2007.