Boosting our resilience at the annual LDC conference

The Local Dental Committee (LDC) conference was in Newcastle this year and I went with two hats; as a member of the LDC and as a BDA Young Dentists Committee (YDC) representative. It was great to go alongside my sister Reem who is an oral surgery registrar, and the event was really thought provoking.

Being at the conference as part of the YDC has reignited my passion to voice aspects of dentistry that aren’t going so well and lead to national change. There is no quick fix to NHS dentistry. It is very easy to see what is going wrong, but without being a part of a team that wants change, it genuinely isn’t possible.

The event started with a delicious (and halal) lunch and we got to network with other LDC members from across the UK, noting that we all shared very similar values. BDA chair Eddie Crouch and the YDC members spoke about how to encourage our younger members to be part of the LDC.

Resilience and the need to step back

This year the theme of the conference was resilience, reflecting a major trait I needed to power through the final year of my specialty programme. It made me reflect on the lifestyle we decide to create for ourselves, whilst balancing our mentally demanding careers.

My interest was captivated by Jason Wong, Chief Dental Officer for England as he delved into the topic of burnout leading to depersonalisation. As my dental nurse Natalie and I often say, we need to check in on each other’s wellbeing. There is a risk in the NHS of trying to ‘just get on with it’ and forget how we are affected personally, but we need the human factors in dentistry that we discussed as undergraduates.

The reason I enjoyed the day so much was that I could recognise we are truly all experiencing signs of burnout and fatigue from work.

When we have to do tick-box exercises, most tasks seem mundane, and nothing appears to be fulfilling. The shift to virtual meetings post-COVID helps with our busy lives, but does not allow us to remove ourselves from the intensity of our schedules and take time out to reflect in new settings. Being in Newcastle was good for this, and it allowed us to restart and have clarity in our visions for ourselves as well as our patients.

"The reason I enjoyed the day so much was that I could recognise we are truly all experiencing signs of burnout and fatigue from work."

Confronting perfectionism

It cannot be a dental conference without the mention of our regulators, the GDC. The fear of litigation or being up against the fitness to practise panel will no doubt cross our minds occasionally. It is therefore so important we consider what makes us have a sense of self. As high achievers, we sometimes get carried away with working overtime as we have an innate desire to ‘fix everything’, not recognising the negative implications it can have on our productivity and consequently on patients.

Whilst our intentions are good, we rarely take the time out to focus on what is important to us. Resilience and how it intertwines with the dento-legal world is fundamental here, because the lack of resilience can affect our mental wellbeing and our ability to provide patient care. It can also negatively impact our colleagues if we are in a poor working environment. We have to be OK with being less than perfect, that we learn to delegate, and oscillate between performance and recovery. The downward spiral although morbid, is very real, and it is so important we have a good work/life balance.

Cultivating high performance

We listened to motivational speeches on how to achieve high performance, with recommendations from podcasters Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes. Elite tennis coach Graeme Foreman told us that performance can increase or decrease by up to 30% based on how we feel.

I recognised that my educational supervisor Miss Semina Visram, supervisor Mr Turner, and training programme director Miss Kotecha at my current workplace have all helped me to achieve my own personal and professional goals.

Final words

I want to thank the LDC for allowing me to be a special observer to a conference that allowed me to see dentistry from a different viewpoint. While I would have liked for the event to have fallen outside of Eid, it was a very rewarding day, and at the end of it I was able to return to my family and enjoyed the rest of the celebrations with them.

For my colleagues who may be struggling, I end my reflection with some useful resources that I was not aware of and hope they assist you, or even a colleague; we must support each other. There are the BDA’s resources, as well as the dental wellness organisation BREATHE, ConfiDental helpline, and the Benevolent Fund.