EFP postgraduate symposium shows high quality of research and clinical performance by students at accredited programmes

The EFP’s 7^th Postgraduate Symposium took place on September 7 to 9, bringing together well over a hundred students and university lecturers for an intensive programme of clinical and research presentations.

The symposium took place at the Slieve Russell Hotel in Ballyconnell, in Co. Cavan, about 100 miles from Dublin. It was organised by Ioannis Polyzois, director of the postgraduate programme in periodontology at the Dublin Dental University Hospital, Trinity College, Dublin, and his faculty.

It was attended by 116 participants: 82 students at EFP-accredited postgraduate programmes in periodontology, 29 directors and teachers of these programmes, plus EFP president Gernot Wimmer, postgraduate education committee member Ubele van der Velden, EFP staff, and a representative of sponsor Procter & Gamble.

The EFP Postgraduate Symposium takes place every two years and is organised by one of the 15 universities and hospitals that run EFP-accredited programmes in 10 different countries. Second- and third-year postgraduate students are invited as well as the programme directors and co-ordinators.

The symposium provides a special opportunity to bring these students together to benefit from a high-level, EFP-developed scientific discourse. The event also enables the directors of the accredited courses to meet and agree on updates to the EFP programmes.

“These were two very intense and busy days. The research projects were diverse, covering numerous aspects of periodontal science, and the level of the studies and the quality of the reports were very high,” said Moshe Goldstein, chair of the EFP’s postgraduate education committee.

“The clinical cases covered all aspects of modern periodontology and implant dentistry and it was really impressive to see the level of knowledge and the clinical performance of the students.”

On the evening of Thursday, September 7, participants were welcomed by Prof Goldstein and EFP president Gernot Wimmer. In his address, Prof Goldstein described the role of the symposium and how, over the years, “the knowledge shared in these meetings has had a prominent effect towards the improvement of clinical performance and research achievements in each programme.”

Prof Polyzois then gave the symposium’s opening lecture, “Dublin Dental University Hospital’s perio programme, 2007-2017: a journey of discovery.”

Fifteen sessions, with clinical and research presentations

On Friday 8 and Saturday 9, the symposium featured 15 sessions, moderated by teachers of the accredited postgraduate programmes. Each session featured a clinical presentation and a research presentation given by postgraduate students from the programmes.

On the Friday, the sessions were:

• Moderated by Prof Ioannis Polyzois (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland), clinical presentation by Luca Pirracchio (University of Bern, Switzerland), and research presentation by Bo Molemans (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) with the title: “The use of LRPF as the sole grafting material for sinus-floor elevation with simultaneous implant placement.”
• Moderated by Prof Moshe Goldstein (Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel), clinical presentation by Alberto Pulcini (Completense University, Madrid, Spain), and research presentation by Bruno De Carvalho (University of Liège, Belgium) with the title: “Influence of hydroxyapatite topographical properties on bone regeneration.”
• Moderated by Prof David Herrera (Complutense University, Madrid, Spain), clinical presentation by Navit Shamai (Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel), and research presentation by Catherine Petit (University of Strasbourg, France) with the title: “Influence of psychological stress on non-surgical severe chronic periodontitis treatment outcomes: a prospective six-month follow-up intervention study.”
• Moderated by Prof Henri Tenenbaum (University of Strasbourg, France), clinical presentation by Eva Maria Muñoz Aguillera (UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London, UK), and research presentation by Ofir Ginesin (Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel) with the title: “Photometric CIELAB analysis of the gingiva.”
• Moderated by Prof Bruno Loos (ACTA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), clinical presentation by Javi Vilarrasa (International University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain), and research presentation by Takahiro Kato (Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden) with the title: “Periodontal disease among older people (≥ 70 years old) and its impact on oral-health-related quality of life.”
• Moderated by Prof Francesco D’Aiuto (UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London, UK), clinical presentation by Sebastien Moreaux (University of Paris 7 Denis Diderot, Paris, France), and research presentation by Fidias Nikolaou (ACTA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) with the title: “Microbial communities in periodontitis patients with and without halitosis.”
• Moderated by Giovanni Salvi (University of Bern, Switzerland), clinical presentation by Hanny Stoleru (University of Tel Aviv, Israel), and research presentation by Lubna Al Ghazai (Trinity College, Dublin) with the title: “A clinical and biochemical investigation into chronic and generalised aggressive periodontitis.”
• Moderated by Dr Jacob Horwitz (Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel), clinical presentation by Ece Deniz Yarimoglou (Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey), and research presentation by Jean-Claude Imber (University of Bern, Switzerland) with the title: “Effect of an Enamel Matrix Derivate (EMD) on wound healing following gingival recession coverage: a randomised controlled clinical study.”

The Saturday sessions were:

• Moderated by Prof Philippe Bouchard (University of Paris 7 Denis Diderot, Paris, France), clinical presentation by Mark McLaughlin (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland), and research presentation by Liat Chaushu (Tel Aviv University, Israel) with the title: “Bone-implant contact and new bone formation in h-FDB blocks.”
• Moderated by Prof France Lambert (University of Liège, Belgium), clinical presentation by Giovanni Nuzzo (Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden), and research presentation by Isabelle Fontanille (University of Paris 7 Denis Diderot, Paris, France) with the title: “Effect of bariatric surgery on periodontal health.”
• Moderated by Prof Win Teughels (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium), clinical presentation by Elmira Boolori (ACTA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), and research presentation by Begüm Atalay (Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey) with the title: “Plaque-inhibitory effect of hyaluronan-containing mouthwash in a four-day non-brushing model.”
• Moderated by Prof Bahar Kuru (Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey), clinical presentation by Rodrigo Martin-Cabezas (University of Strasbourg, France), and research presentation by Fernando Noguerol (Complutense University, Madrid, Spain) with the title: “A multicentre randomised controlled clinical trial using a new resorbable non-cross-linked collagen membrane for guided bone regeneration at dehisced single implant sites: Partial results.”
• Moderated by José Nart (International University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain), clinical presentation by Charlotte Fevril (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium), and research presentation by Efrat Maayan (Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel) with the title: “The impact of implant design, defect size, and type of superstructure on the accessibility of non-surgical and surgical approaches for the treatment of peri-implantitis.”
• Moderated by Prof Ingemar Abrahamsson (Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden), clinical presentation by Gaelle Botilde (University of Liège, Belgium), and research presentation by Giorgio Stroppa (International University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain) with the title: “Soft-tissue volume gain around dental implants using autogenous subepithelial connective tissue grafts harvested from the palate or tuberosity: a randomised controlled clinical study.”
• Moderated by Prof Lior Shapira (Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel), clinical presentation by Lana Iskander (Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel), and research presentation by Ben Wang (UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London, UK) with the title: “The effect of periodontal treatment on the macro-nutritional intake of a Type II diabetic cohort with moderate to severe periodontitis.”

On the Friday, there was also a meeting for the directors of the postgraduate programmes.

“The venue was very nice and all the organisation absolutely perfect thanks to the work and preparations of Prof Polyzois and his colleagues,” said Prof Goldstein, who also expressed his gratitude to Procter and Gamble “for their continuous and generous support of this event.”

He added that there was also “a very friendly and supportive atmosphere during the lectures and a fantastic social time in the evenings.”