Karachi: Keeping up with its tradition of bringing the dental fraternity together with outstanding symposiums, seminars and other related events, Dental News organized the very first Style Italiano Restorative Workshop on the 19th of October at Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, in collaboration with Pakistan Dental Association. Amidst countless uncertainties pertaining to the political scenario and law and order situation of the city, the workshop received an overwhelming response and was attended by house officers, trainee residents, private practitioners and students from leading institutes of Karachi and Hyderabad. The Dental News Expert Symposium started with the recitation from the Holy Quran followed by the National Anthem. The programme started on time with the lecture of Dr Arshad Hasan, Head of the Operative Department at DOW Dental. In his very enlightening presentation Dr Arshad Hasan shared comprehensive details about hue, chroma and value of restorations, the importance of maintaining a graduated difference between dentin and enamel shades to ensure excellent aesthetics, an introduction to the Style Italiano technique, and how to make it successful in clinical practice. The presentation also included patient cases with tooth re-creations done using the layering technique. This was followed by Dr Urooj Mumtaz Khan’s highly interactive lecture, who is currently the Consultant Aesthetics Specialist at Khan’s Dental Institute. The Sheffield graduate used outstanding everyday examples to explain the Style Italiano technique and how students can achieve excellent results using simple guidelines. ‘It isn’t always possible to purchase the Style Italiano kit, which is rather expensive,’ she said ‘but in my clinical practice, I find that I can achieve almost the same results with my regular instruments like probes and plastic instruments. I also used the common plumbing tape; it offers excellent isolation for a fraction of the cost’. Dr Urooj’s presentation too included her own patient cases with excellent before and after restoration photographs. Dr Salman Ashraf, Head of the Operative Department at University of Lahore and visiting consultant at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Lahore for the dental rehabilitation of cancer patients was the last speaker. His presentation not only highlighted the salient features and techniques of Style Italiano, but also included pictures of patients from Shaukat Khanum before and after their dental restorations. Dr Salman also presented an additional lecture on the measures that must be taken in medical and dental operatories for patients suffering from osteo-radio necrosis. After the completion of the lecture session, CEO Dental News, presented the vote of thanks to all participants and guests. Dr Saqib Rasheed also addressed the gathering, appreciating the commendable efforts put in by the team of Dental News for the event. He also invited the participants for the PDA symposium which is to be held on the 30th of November, and encouraged the participants to attend future events arranged by Dental News. Dr Mumtaz Khan expressed his gratitude and shared his words of wisdom with the young minds. The three then presented shields to the guests, Dr Arshad Hasan, Dr Salman Ashraf and Dr Urooj Mumtaz. Sumptuous lunch was served at the Tai-Pan restaurant at PC before the hands on workshop. During the workshop, the participants were divided into two groups that were supervised by Dr Arshad Hasan and Dr Salman Ashraf. Both the mentors diligently taught the youngsters how to master the Style Italiano technique. All material for the workshop was supplied by 3M Pakistan. Dr Urooj Mumtaz guided the participants as they proceeded with their work.
3M Pakistan, AusPak International and DIO Implants were the key sponsors of the event, and IADSR offered its support in the form of 5 international credit hours to all participants of the workshop. Towards the end of the event, the attendees received certificates of participation. All attendees were encouraged to use the #DNES14 to engage with Dental News, and to share their views, experiences and pictures online The prominent amongst those who attended the event were Prof Saqib Rashid President Pakistan Dental Association, Dr Mumtaz Khan, Dr Azmat Mumtaz and Brigadier Shoaib representing AIDM. The next DNES workshop would soon be announced on orthodontics with aim to equip the participants with new techniques and expertise. The Dental News page on Facebook and the organizers received positive feedback by various participants at the workshop. Comments included:
- ‘The event was amazing as very well organized. I am extremely satisfied and it was definitely worth attending. We all had a great time! Hats off to the team.’ Aneeqa Shahab
- ‘Had a great experience at the Dental News Style Italiano workshop, looking forward to attending more well organized, energetic events such as this one in the future’ Aneela Khan
- ‘Style Italiano, true to its name, showed us how to give that oomph factor to our build-ups. Felt like an artist, and hue, chroma and value finally made sense! Innovative concept and kudos to the Dental News Team for bringing Italiano to us.’ Dr. Rafia Burhan
- ‘Very well-conducted workshop by the masters. New techniques like Style Italiano make smiles much better than before.’ Zainab Haji
- ‘It was one of the best seminars I have attended so far. It was brilliantly organized and the team of Dental News put in a great effort to make it a tremendous success. The speakers and facilitators were keen on helping the participants throughout the workshop. It was an outstanding platform on which Dental News, PDA and 3M Pakistan collaborated to push the boundaries for a better future of dentistry, and to nurture the emerging talent on grass root level.’ Dr. Haroon Ashraf
