This essay competition is dedicated to the memory of the late Keith Woods (d. 2005) who was a long-standing member of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry. He took a special interest in the sequential National Surveys of Child and of Adult Dental Health and participated in a survey of dental health of North West prisoners. Seeing the growth and benefits of modern technology, he helped to develop computer software for the gathering and interpretation of oral health data.

The essay competition is designed to foster the interest of the next generation of dental professionals in public health dentistry. This competition is open to any undergraduate from dentistry, dental therapy, dental hygiene or  dental nursing student registered at a Dental School in the United Kingdom.

The essay competition title is distributed during the early summer period for submission in the autumn of each year. A prize of £200 and a certificate will be awarded to the winner of the competition. These will be presented at the BASCD Autumn Scientific Meeting.

2023 submission deadline extended to 5pm Thursday 14 September

Competition rules

  1. The competition is open to any undergraduate dental student (including those studying dentistry already in possession of another degree), undergraduate dental therapy, undergraduate dental hygiene, or undergraduate dental nursing student registered at a dental school in the United Kingdom.
  2. A typed copy of your essay should be submitted as a Microsoft WORD document via e-mail to bascd@outlook.com by the annual closing date.
  3. Essays should be no more than 2000 words in length (excluding references). This word limit includes abstracts, titles, and other text. The total number of tables or figures should not exceed four.
  4. Specific details relating to the essay format for the 2023 are available at this link.