Dental News - ADF 2018: Welcome message from congress chairperson

Dr Michel Pompignoli

Wed. 28. November 2018

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We can no longer perform treatments as we did 40 years ago, ten years ago, or even last year. But why is that? Firstly, today’s dentists know more than new dental school graduates did in the seventies. Secondly, patients these days are extremely aware and informed and therefore expect modern and effective dental treatment. In addition to that, those days, it took new technology a lot longer to reach the market, sometimes several years even.

Now, this period has been rapidly reduced to a few weeks or days only. Finally, the current evolution of technologies, in combination with increasingly elaborate treatments, requires high-quality training that is not only more frequent but also a lot more specific. The continuing education programmes that take place all around the world are proof of this development.

With the chosen theme, I wanted to bring together three strong values. It is a message that every practitioner should convey not just to his or her patients but also to society as a whole. It is intended to evoke the idea that being a dental surgeon today means being actively involved and ensuring the highest quality care available. This theme is also intended to act as a mirror: to enhance dentistry’s image among patients and mainstream media.

Patient care means repairing and treating, but also sharing, understanding, investing, carrying, supporting, guiding and listening. Care means being there for patients and being involved in their lives. It is not an exercise of power or personal satisfaction. Dental care is focused on the patient and not the carer. While replacement and treatment are part of our job, prevention should remain our main concern.

The commitment is to defend our freedom to provide excellence in our treatments. It is also a political commitment in the context of public health care and health policies. The simple tooth extraction has become a political act.

Unity goes along with comradeship and solidarity in the same ideals. This unity has never been so necessary and important than in recent years. The reforms that have recently been put in place will certainly require of us different practices, requiring more vigilance to defend our ideals of freedom and to ensure a quality of care in line with the evolution of technologies and protocols of care at our disposal. This is the foundation of our values.

Convinced of the growing need to treat edentulous patients, I aimed at integrating a larger part of the discipline of removable prosthetics. I am well aware of the preponderance of prevention over prosthetic treatments, and the guidelines of the current health policy bear witness to this. I am also aware of the evolution of technologies that impact our therapeutic choices (implantology, CAD/CAM, etc). However, the prevalence of edentulism is a reality that cannot be ignored. In spite of the increasingly effective preventative and conservative care, the demographic evolution shows, in correlation with the increase in life expectancy, a constant increase in cases of complete edentulism (estimated at 30 per cent of the world population by 2030 by the World Health Organization).

Without a doubt, this congress will be a success, thanks to its scientific chairperson Dr Christian Verner, its scientific secretary Dr Frédéric Duffau and the entire scientific committee, who are masters of their work. They have developed a programme from which everyone can derive what they need in order to practise in accordance with the state of the art.

This conference will focus on the scientific, societal, ethical and political commitment of all dental health professionals. May it be an opportunity to express and reveal all the talent that lies within us. So, come educate and inform yourself of the scientific, clinical and technical developments offered by the industry.

We are awaiting you; I am awaiting you.

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2018 ADF Chairperson Congress Message Welcome

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