STUDY GROUPS

This is promoting peer review.
It's the best way to learn, and to use the opportunity to talk through common issues and problems we all have.

All professions are stressful, but the best advice I ever had was from my Dad.
He said "remember, people aren't themselves when they see you".

He left school with no qualifications, but he was clearly an expert in behavioural science.

Dec 2025.
This page was made about 5 years ago, but while technology moves quickly, there in reality most changes in dentistry are slow and mainly cosmetic. Theese videos are still relavant. However dentistry has advanced rapidly compared to human behavior. Look at the damage caused by global food corporates producing UPDs and UPFs focussing on our evolutionaly habits, to maximise their profits.

Whatever happened to the guy lecturing in the first video? 😂

This video draws on a range of ideas about how we could build and deliver a better dental health service. Most people only stay engaged with a topic they care about for around 20 minutes—which is why Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk runs for 17 minutes and has reached over 30 million views. My video, on the other hand, is 30 minutes long… and currently sitting at 21 views.

More people would watch if CPD were attached. A retired friend has offered to help me set up a Moodle site for that purpose, but it will need funding.
In the meantime, this video gives a detailed look at my journey and my attempts to shape a dental health service fit for 2026. The videos below are all around 20 minutes—the perfect length for a decaf coffee or a glass of wine.

I'll add the framework on setting up your own study group. We used our contacts to get a variety of discussions, and then we would take them to the pub, and they didn't have to pay for their food and drink. It's at the bottom of the page.

This is the background to how we run our peer review group meetings. Mnay years ago we had funding for Peer review and had meetings in fancy restaurants, they stopped when funding stopped.

The slides have a story to them, and are a reference point for discussion.
I never anticipated my digital intra oral photos to be seen by anyone other than my patients, and along with their digital radiographs I would try and expalin why I needed to carry out the treatment, or why i wouldn't which often is the best option.

MID - Minimal Invasive Dentistry

Atraumatic Restorative Therapy (ART)

In reality, most dentists were already practising a form of ART by using increasingly effective glass ionomer materials. In children, these restorations didn’t last long—but they lasted long enough to serve their purpose.
We didn’t publicise the approach because it wasn’t considered ideal, and if the outcome was less than perfect an expert witness—often someone no longer in clinical practice—could judge the decision, leaving the GDC to admonish you.
I have no slides on SDF; I wasn’t aware of it until 2020.

Sadly, the GDC hasn’t improved much since.

Endodontic success and failures

If you’ve made it this far, here’s something you might not expect: for the first three years of my career, I hateddentistry. I only stuck with it to earn a living while I figured out what I really wanted to do with my life.

For a time, I worked in a private practice—quite rare in 1985. The owner had no idea how much he would influence my career. He was deeply interested in occlusion and was, at the time, the chairman of the Pankey Institute. He told me bluntly that our dental school training was rubbish, and if I truly wanted to understand dentistry, I should head to the States.
So I did the next best thing: I started attending lectures, mainly from international dentists. And that’s when everything changed. Once I became genuinely curious—asking questions, thinking more deeply about what I was doing—the work itself became fascinating.
Dentistry turned out to be a great career. I hope you can learn from my mistakes and find your own path a little faster than I did.

Delivering Care to the vulnerable

This section explores 3D printing, teledentistry, and the development of the DHS App.

I created it after my trip to Ireland in 2024, where I looked into how we might tackle the problem of the 14,000 dentures lost every year in UK hospitals and care homes. I realised I can’t solve this alone—but I can show others that it’s entirely possible for them to step in.
From everything I’ve seen, there’s no technical reason why someone with a scanner can’t produce replica dentures. They must, of course, be manufactured by an authorised lab. But why must a dentist be the only person allowed to fit them?
In Ireland, one practitioner successfully fitted over 200 full dentures without issues. Partial dentures may need adjustment, but only in around 25% of cases—meaning a dentist need only visit occasionally. And because these are digital designs, minor adjustments can often be made virtually, producing a slightly looser fit that can be delivered with a simple fixative.

I've made a more recent course on how to set up your own peer review course with CPD on the DentalHealthService websites for all DCPs.

Setting up your study group- there are instructions on the BDA website...

Peer review instructions

Contact your local dental practices, or known dental contacts and suggest a group meeting.

Decide on a subject that is of relevance to the group.

You need to decide on a venue such as your dental practice, or alternative local venue.
Contact with the date and time of the event via contact letter or email.

State

Venue and time of meeting

Educational Aim
Outcome anticipated from meeting
Resources

Amount of verifiable CPD at the meeting

A register needs to be taken, and feedback.

We have run informal peer review study meetings for many years, and in groups from 8-16.
Our resources have varied from local dental specialists, dental representatives, and if we have occasionally reference to recent dental publications with group discussions.

With recent advances in IT we are able to easily review our own examples from digital radiographs and clinical pictures. Small informal groups allow for a more relaxed learning environment, and the discussions during and after the meetings are generally more informative than on line courses. We have them of an evening and then go out for something to eat and drink which is not included in the CPD, but clearly has some value.

Recently we have used free “survey monkey” as when its returned it will have a section on requests for future topics. And on the survey monkey feedback return, we then send a pdf of the CPD certificate.

Clearly this could be done by a simple paper registration, feedback , and CPD certificate on the occasion.

We have had updates on anticoagulants, oral cancer, endodontics, biodentine, pensions, ethics, consent, tooth whitening, dental implants, & mindfulness.

There are some links in the IT section that may help the above.

This was a CPD certificate

Downs Peer review Study Group

YOUR NAME

Lecture

Lead- Chris Bell BDS FDSRCS
   Senior Clinical Lecturer in Oral & Dental Sciences

Bisphosphonates update

Educational Aim-   highlight current guidelines on bisphosphonates for the GDP
           managing extractions for those on bisphosphonates


Outcome-    a greater understanding on when to refer to secondary care
       increased awareness of potential clinical consequences
       to encourage understanding of importance of bisphosphonate history
Resources

       Expert in the field

   Represents 1.5 Hours verifiable CPD

Venue

35-37 Stanley Road, Bristol, BS6 6NP