LAHORE: Where the Covid-19 pandemic continues to deal health, economic and social blows to the public and profoundly affect health services delivery, dentists around the world see the crisis as an opportunity to rethink the future of dentistry and address system-level failures.

They stressed that another wave of scientific discovery and innovation should come along with the second wave of coronavirus. International and local medical and dental experts were addressing Pakistan’s first virtual online dental moot held at the University of Health Sciences (UHS).

The theme of the conference was ‘Redefining Trends in Dentistry’ where speakers from the UK, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Palestine, Hong Kong, Turkey, France and Pakistan presented their papers.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the three-day conference on Monday, UK’s Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow Vice President (Dental) Dr Andrew Edwards said that rather than being isolated and separated from mainstream healthcare, this crisis had clearly shown that dental professionals could be integrated into the wider system.

“The challenge ahead is to delineate the clinical roles of dental personnel in a more integrated model of care,” Dr Edwards remarked. He also said that dentists had a substantial effect in supporting health service delivery during the pandemic and had, therefore, developed new skills and clinical knowledge in the process.

Queen Mary University, London’s Prof Paul Anderson of oral biology said the pandemic had exacerbated socioeconomic inequalities and would undoubtedly worsen oral health inequalities. He was of the view that dental care systems now needed to be more responsive to the needs of their local populations and prioritise care for groups with a high need such as low income, marginalised and vulnerable groups, including those with multiple morbidities.

Dalhousie University, Canada’s assistant professor of periodontology, Dr Nader Hamdan, observed that current restrictions on aerosol-generating procedures provided an opportunity to re-orientate dental care towards a less invasive and more preventive approach, one in which the dental team worked in partnership to tackle the shared risks for oral diseases and other non-communicable diseases.

“This is also a time to stop delivering unnecessary and ineffective treatments. A perfect example of this is the routine provision of tooth scaling and polishing, a procedure that does not have an evidence base and is a costly waste of resources,” Dr Hamdan stressed.

UK’s University of Glasgow Head of School of Education Prof Margery McMahon said that radical reform of oral healthcare systems would require brave and bold decision-making from professional leaders. There had been a paradigm shift in how universities and professional organisations were led and how they organised themselves to deliver world-leading research, excellence in learning and teaching and positive experience for students.

King’s College London’s professor of orthodontics, Prof Martyn Cobourne, was of the view that though the field of remote orthodontics had expanded significantly in recent times, the Covid-19 pandemic had further highlighted the role tele-dentistry could play in delivery of patient care whilst adhering to high professional standards.

Guy’s Hospital London Chair and Professor of Oral Surgery Prof Tara Renton said there were a host of serious diseases and conditions linked to oral health, including cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, certain cancers, and also pregnancy complications.

She held that the impact on overall health, coupled with a track record of safely providing care throughout the pandemic, was why dentists should be allowed to continue treating patients, even in the event of future pandemic-related shutdowns.

Al-Quds University, Ramallah, Palestine lecturer at periodontology, Dr Ghassan Habash, said that routine care was often preventive care and it was extremely important in helping to avoid oral infections and diseases. He added that the pandemic had proven that it was time for dentistry to be recognised as a form of essential healthcare.

UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Javed Akram said the pandemic had posed many challenges for the scientific community, including how to drive science and medicine forward while sheltering at home.

“Yet, the crisis itself highlights the urgent need for sharing scientific insights to overcome the many diseases that threaten humanity. Therefore, we must rise to the current challenge and utilise new virtual interfaces to stimulate the next wave of scientific innovations,” he added.

Those who presented papers at the conference included Dr Mohamed M Al-Eraky from Saudi Arabia, Prof Ling John Yu Kong Hong Kong, Dr Roman Hossein Khonsari France, Prof Hakan Ozyuvaci Turkey, Dr Ansa Akram the UK, Dr How Kim Chuan Malaysia, Prof Shahid Mahmood Saudi Arabia, Prof Arshad Malik Islamabad, Prof Shahjahan Katpar Karachi, Prof M Farhan Raza Khan Karachi, Prof Arham Nawaz Chohan Lahore and Dr Saima Chaudhry UHS Lahore.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2020