On 5 March 2022 the seventh annual British Undergraduate Dental Research Conference (BUDRC) was held at Manchester University. Organised by the Manchester Undergraduate Dental Research Society (MUDRSoc), the national conference was a huge success with tickets selling out in record time and over 300 students from 15 UK dental schools attending.

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Reinstatement of the usual in-person format was very much welcomed by delegates following our virtual conference in 2021. As it was created by students for students, the conference tagline 'A New Gap to Bridge' was selected to reflect the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on dental student learning. The conference not only reflected a return to normality, but also provided a much-needed opportunity for students to network, learn about research and develop and reinstate confidence in their clinical skills.

The day commenced with a trio of talks from prestigious world-renowned speakers in dental research:

  • Professor Rebecca Harris (Deputy Chief Dental Officer): Trying to Reduce Inequalities in Dental Services and Systems

  • Professor Jenny Gallagher MBE: Delivering Better Oral Health - An Update

  • Dr Wendy Thompson: Reducing Antibiotic Prescribing in Dentistry - The Most Ironic PhD Title Ever?

The morning also featured live student research and clinical case competition presentations where undergraduate students could present their work nationally in front of a panel of judges and student audience. We would like to formally congratulate our competition winners:

  • Research Competition winner - Haleema Rabeea (BDS 4) from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry

  • Clinical Case Competition winner - Reuben Arnold (BDS 5) from the University of Manchester.

This was followed by a lunch break and bustling trade fair. This year's trade fair provided ample opportunity for students to interact with clinicians, dental companies, and of course, one another. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors TePe, Synergy, Rodericks Dental, Dentinal Tubules, Orascoptic, Edudent, Wesleyan, UKLoupes, Immersify, DDU, GSK, PÄRLA and TapNote for supporting us financially and helping to provide tickets at low prices.

The BUDRC is famous for its afternoon workshops and this year was no exception, featuring 13 parallel workshops which included more hands-on workshops than ever before. Students were able to practise fundamental skills, including but not limited to rubberdamology, composite and suturing. They were also exposed to hands-on opportunities not usually available to undergraduates such as maxillofacial fracture plating, implant placement and facial aesthetics. Seminar-based workshops were also a resounding success, as students learnt about a range of useful topics, including dental radiology, treatment planning and how to run their own practice.

The society received overwhelmingly positive feedback from delegates as they found the event 'very very helpful', 'a nice way to spend a Saturday and meet some new people', a 'very enjoyable and interesting experience' which gave them 'a good insight into the practice side of dentistry which I have not been able to experience yet at university'. Students are 'already looking forward to next year!' and we look forward to welcoming them to Manchester again in 2023.

The society would like to thank staff from the University of Manchester for their continued support; notably, Professor Silikas, Professor Walsh and Professor Glenny. This gratitude is also extended to the morning speakers and workshop clinicians. This conference is organised purely by undergraduate dental students and would not have been possible without the hard work of Sabina Rahman, Sumaya Al-Attar, Yasmin Egonu, Safa Shareef, Rashmini Arnold, Shivani Chohan, Sana Thagia, Choudhury Rahman, Celeste Ling, Daniel Westhead, Raihan Qadir, Caitlin Collins and Mariyah Aseri of the University of Manchester.