ESPE holds international dental symposium

Dr Elizabeth Martin from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney reviews ESPE's inaugural international dental symposium which was held in Munich, Germany.

The dental industry has introduced more new restorative materials or product groups during the last five years than at any other time in the history of dentistry. This has contributed to a degree of confusion which often results in products being used incorrectly.

The ESPE company felt this was an appropriate time to plan for future needs in the industry and organised the first international ESPE Dental Symposium on Composites and Compomers in Munich, for three days in late September.

A group of 180 participants made up of practicing dentists, researchers and academics from all parts of the world were invited to be involved in a series of lectures and discussions. The outcome of this meeting would enable ESPE to devise strategies for the development of new bonding systems and tooth-coloured restorative materials for the future.

On the first evening the guests had the opportunity to visit Octoberfest and enjoy some traditional German food accompanied by their famous beer. This was an ideal venue to renew old acquaintances and make new contacts in readiness for the meeting that would follow.

The symposium began the next morning with lectures presented by Professor Guido Vanherle from Belgium and Dr Jan van Dijken from Sweden who spoke on "Composites in vivo and criteria for selection: Clinical experience with adhesive systems" and "Clinical indications for compomers versus composites" respectively. These were followed by two hours of discussion guided by the two chairmen: Professor Reinhard Hickel from Munich University and Professor Harald Heymann from the University of North Carolina, U.S., and aided by a group of eleven panellists. The discussions continued with a "lunch and learn" session where everyone was allocated to a table to deliberate on one of thirteen different topics.

In the afternoon Professor Bernd Haller from Germany presented "Adhesives: State of the art and future aspects" and Professor Harald Heymann the "Future restorative needs in the light of tooth biodynamics". The discussion that followed covered many areas including the results of a survey of the participants carried out the previous evening.

This survey examined the range of restorative materials used by practitioners, from different parts of the world, to restore a variety of cavity preparations. By the end of the day, the group had proposed a list of properties and requirements which could form the basis for the development of an ideal tooth-coloured restorative material.

Proceedings for the second day included lectures from the research and development team at ESPE. The information that was presented indicated considerable research into new materials and techniques to overcome the deficiencies that exist with the current materials. Some of the areas of research included new light curing systems, fluoride-releasing and non-shrinking composite resins, and a new adhesive system. This was followed in the afternoon by a tour of the ESPE factory which is located in a beautiful part of the countryside, just outside Munich at Seefeld.

The factory is well organised to receive visitors with lecture rooms, a small museum and refreshments at the completion of the tour. A great emphasis is placed on the level of cleanliness, which resulted in visitors being required to cover-up with gowns, shoe and head covers while inside the factory. It is a very impressive operation dealing with the production of equipment through to a full range of restorative materials, and even local anaesthetics.

The management team from ESPE appeared to be pleased with the outcome of the symposium. The information obtained from the diverse group of participants will hopefully enable the development of future materials that will eliminate the problems that beset many of the products presently on the market.