Liam Fletcher is the overall national winner in an inaugural research competition for UK foundation dentists producing noteworthy projects to improve periodontal care. The competition was launched last year by Dental Protection in partnership with the MPS Foundation, a global not-for-profit research initiative that aims to shape the future of patient safety.

Liam's winning project aimed to improve periodontal care and record keeping at a general dental practice and ensure it was adherent to the British Society of Periodontology document ‘Delivering phased-care for periodontitis patients under the units of dental activity (UDA) banding in England: Road map to prevention and stabilisation'. The initial audit identified 14 areas out of 28 domains that did not achieve the ideal standard. By using process mapping and peer review the situation improved. By the final round of peer reviews, 12 domains of the initial 14 domains were present in records reviewed.

Southwest regional winner Hong Yee Lee evaluated how periodontal treatment can be carried out successfully through respecting a patient's boundaries and targeting the cause of dental anxiety. Midlands regional winner Adam Rahman looked at commonly omitted advice in a general dental practice and cases of periodontal disease in relation to patients who smoke; while Yorkshire and Humber regional winner Jay Patel examined non-surgical periodontal therapy for the management of intra-bony defects.

Professor Callum Youngson, Chair of the Dental Board at MPS, said: ‘I am delighted to announce the winners for our first Dental Protection research competition for UK foundation dentists. They have produced excellent work on the management of periodontal health which can be applied in general dental practice. They are to be highly commended for the quality of their work.

‘Our aim in running these research competitions is to encourage early career dentists to develop expertise in the important areas of patient safety and risk reduction whilst building research capacity and capability for the future. These stand-out projects are a successful example of that.

‘I am happy to announce that the next Dental Protection research competition for foundation dentists launched on 14 October 2024. Once again, we welcome project entries focused on either professionalism, communication, leadership and management, or clinical areas (or a combination) in relation to patient safety and risk mitigation. The national winner will win £1,000 and each regional winner will win £350.'

The competition portal for the UK Foundation Dentists Competition is now open, and foundation dentists in the UK can register their interest and view the criteria for the competition categories: https://mpsfdtcompetitions.smapply.io/prog/uk_foundation_dentists_competition_2024/. The closing date for competition submissions will be 31 July 2025.