It is a real honour to serve as President of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry association for the study and follow in the footsteps of Ivor Chestnutt. My sincere gratitude goes to Charlotte Jeavons Professor of Dental Public Health Practice and Professor Mairead Harding for nominating me, and for their steadfast support. I am looking forward to leading our organisation forward and working with our fantastic Council who were buzzing with ideas at our pre conference meeting.

Our scientific conference in Chester would not have been possible without the flawless execution of our VSM colleagues with particular thanks to Ellie Jackson with support from Colgate-Palmolive. Thank you for making my life really easy- I knew everything was under control!

We need to make sure that the influence of AI and digital technology is a positive one for oral health and in my address to conference, I wanted to emphasise the role that we play both individually and collectively. Our speakers absolutely hit the brief and it was a brilliant two days taking us from policy to chairside across digital inclusion, wider determinants, regulation education, prevention, system wide delivery, value based healthcare and more.

A huge thank you to all of our distinguished speakers, competition entrants, conference helpers, and delegates for their invaluable contributions including the enthusiastic participation at the QA'd after dinner quiz.

Fiona Watson
BASCD President
June 2026