KARACHI- 'The success of treatment in the dental profession is closely linked to the quality of education, skills and expertise of the dental practitioners. Hence, it lies with the profession to develop and adhere to higher standards, for maintaining a high level of performance, enriched with experience and expertise in practice'. This was the main emphasis expressed at the 2nd Continuous Dental Education Symposium organized by Pakistan Dental Association, Karachi at Sir Syed College of Medical Sciences' Dental Section, recently, with its theme 'Raising the bar in Dentistry'. Aimed at emphasizing the importance of maintaining professional standards, the symposium was chaired by Mr Danish Moin, acting Project Director, SSCMS. Dr Navid R. Qureshi, on behalf of PDA, Karachi, started off by thanking Sir Syed College of Medical Sciences, mentioning the success story of how PDA has reached an immense level nationally as well as internationally. He put emphasis on PDA's role in manifesting the importance of Continuing Dental Education Program in Karachi. He also mentioned of some of such symposiums and programs held earlier in the different colleges and also gave a brief about the symposiums to be held in near furture. Prof Dr Erum Raja, HoD and Assistant Professor (Prosthodontics) at LCMD, discussed "Clinical points in complete denture," and explained the procedures of denture insertion, patient instruction, protocol for the use of denture adhesive and post-placement care. Prof Dr H. R. Sukhia , Vice Principal & Head of Dental Section at SSCMS, who touched on the topic of "Adult Orthodontic Complications Encountered in Routine Practice." His emphasis was more on adult orthodontic patients who are routinely encountered in private practice. He identified and discussed the normal problems encountered, likely to hinder normal orthodontic treatment and prevent orthodontists from attaining a good normal class-one occlusion, post-treatment. He also gave a review, and research data that verify that adults suffer from a wide range of occlusal and dental discrepancies. Dr. Atif Jawad, Assistant Professor (Prosthodontics) and HoD at Bhittai Dental and Med-ical College, MirpurKhas, spoke about "Problems in prosthesis in implant retained dentures". The concluding discussion was addressed by Dr Abdullah Kamran, HoD (Orthodontics) at Dar-ul-Sehat Hospital (LCMD), deliberating on "Who should do Orthodontics". Lastly, Vice Principal Dr H. R. Sukhia while giving vote of thanks said: "I would like to thank the PDA committee members for organizing this event at SSCMS. Special thanks to Colgate, Pfizer and Dental News for supporting this event. Refresher courses in our country are required especially amongst the dental professionals. New graduates will benefit from such programs and enhance further their knowledge and skills in an ever-advancing dental field. Undergraduate and new dentists should be exposed to various new technological advances and helped in choosing their specialty after graduation. All senior excecutive council members of the PDA Karachi including Dr Feroz Jehangir, Dr Aizaz Khan, Dr Aqeel Shaikh and Dr Ghulam Mustafa were present on the occasion. Shields were awarded to Dr Erum Raja, Prof H.R. Sukhia, Dr Atif Jawad and Dr. Abdullah Kamran.
