August 2023 saw the long-awaited return of Toothfest. Oliver Liyou and his team at EVDS normally run this globally recognised event every 5 years, but Covid delayed the 2021 event. All we can say is delayed anticipation made this year even sweeter!
This was a truly international, cutting-edge event. Not only did speakers fly into Australia from all corners of the globe, so did delegates. We were thrilled to meet people from as far afield as the UK, North America, South Africa and Norway.
We were also thrilled with how much there was to learn, and it led us to think about how the veterinary industry has changed over time. Once upon a time, most vets were in mixed practices and handled almost everything within their own practice. Now, there’s a tendency to be much more specialised. While student vets study a little of everything as part of their university course, many of them won’t do any kind of dental work at all after graduation. Vets in mixed practices and urban practices may see very few horses for any kind of work, so lack of experience means they refer issues to a specialist nearby. Even vets working in an equine practice may miss out on treating dental problems.
For attendees with this background, Toothfest was a chance to gain knowledge, experience and confidence, not just in dentistry but also in closely related areas such as general mouth and sinus health. For those with a more specialist dental background, there was plenty of advanced learning and discussion.
As major sponsors of this learning event, we also had a stand with all our equipment on display. Here’s the Radincon team – from left to right: Jon Marriott, Charles Spicer-Jenkins, Seb Wensing.
All of us extend our heartfelt thanks to Oliver, his team and all the presenters who made this event such a success. The entire speaker panel was fabulous, but we have a few special mentions to
- Professor Paddy Dixon, previously of Edinburgh University, now in a very active retirement where he still keeps up with everything that’s happening
- Drs Chris Pearce and Nicole Du Toit from the Equine Dental Clinic in the UK
- Dr Jack Easley who runs his own equine dentistry practice in Kentucky USA
- Professor Denis Verwilghen from the University of Sydney
Of course it wasn’t all serious learning. No really good event is.
Here are a few of the more lighthearted and relaxed moments.
See you all again at the next one. Hoping it will only be 5 years this time!