The British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) is keen to encourage researchers in the field of population oral health. To support this, BASCD offer four awards including the Keith Woods Essay Competition and the BASCD-Borrow Foundation Early Career Poster Award.

Keith Woods Essay Competition

The essay competition is designed to foster the interest of the next generation of dental professionals in public health dentistry and is open to any undergraduate from dentistry, dental therapy, dental hygiene or dental nursing registered at a dental school in the UK. A prize of £200 and certificate is awarded to the winner.

The title for the essay in 2022 was: The oral health of refugees and the mobilisation of oral health care services to meet their needs.

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The essay winner was Ellie Macintosh (pictured, with Albert Yeung), a recent graduate of dental therapy and dental hygiene from the Peninsula Dental School. Commendation went to Yasmin Aziz, a recent dental graduate from Cardiff Dental School.

BASCD-Borrow Foundation Early Career Poster Award

The BASCD-Borrow Foundation Early Career Poster Award is sponsored by The Borrow Foundation which is actively engaged in promoting oral health and disease prevention. The poster prize is open to BASCD members from academic and non-academic institutions in their early careers; eg undergraduates, clinical fellows, trainees and those undertaking Masters and PhD degrees. The 1st prize award winner receives a certificate, £200 and is offered financial support to participate at the congress of the European Association of Dental Public Health being held in the following year. A certificate and prize of £50 is awarded to both the 2nd and 3rd prize winners.

1st prize went to K. Julia Hurry, Queen Mary University of London, for writing on Barriers and dental care pathways for children looked after in the UK.

2nd prize was awarded to Sarah Kaddour, NHS England who wrote on ‘Stay Smiling': Co-producing an oral health training programme for care homes.

3rd prize was awarded to Mairead Hennigan, NHS Lothian for writing on Service evaluation of a new unscheduled paediatric dental service in NHS Lothian.

All of the prizes were presented during the BASCD Autumn Scientific Meeting held on 10 November 2022. Due to the London tube strike, the event was moved to a virtual platform at short notice. The theme of the conference was ‘A Place to Call Home: Rescue or Repair'. It explored the provision of dental care for asylum seekers, refugees and looked-after children.

During the conference, BASCD President Albert Yeung wore a Ukraine flag bowtie to express solidarity with those people affected by the conflict in Ukraine. He also wore a poppy as a show of support for the Armed Forces community. He said: ‘The standard of the entries this year was so high that the judging panel had difficulty deciding on the winners. It was a shame not to be able to present the awards in person'.