British Endodontic Society

4 Victoria Square
St Albans UK AL1 3TF
149-458-1542
britishendodonticsociety.org.uk

The British Endodontic Society was formed in 1963 to promote the interchange of ideas on all aspects of pulp and root canal treatment especially in general dental practice. The impetus for its establishment came from Dr. Hans Orlay, who wrote to the Editor of the British Dental Journal on June 19th 1962, inviting colleagues to contact him to discuss such a venture. As a result of the letter nine men met and decided that such a Society should be inaugurated.

The Society was formally established during a meeting held at 13, Hill Street, London, W1 on Wednesday 16th January 1963. There were 60 requests for membership and Dr. Orlay duly became the first President. The Society was one of the first to recognise its national role by establishing annual provincial meetings, the first of which was held at the Dental School and Hospital in Leeds.

The Journal of the British Endodontic Society:

The newly formed Society published proceedings of its meetings in the Dental Practitioner magazine, courtesy of a kindly editor, but delays in publication led to the creation of a Society newsletter to inform members in a more timely fashion. However lengthy delays were not avoided and the President of the day and instigator of the newsletter, Mr. John Forrest expressed concern that that too much original work was being held back too long and that the development of ideas was being hindered. In the spring of 1967 the first edition of the Journal of the British Endodontic Society was published, under the editorial oversight of Professor Jack Rowe and Mr. John Forrest. The first edition included a meeting report in which Dr. Angelo Sargenti had addressed the Society on the use of N2 in root canal treatment.

The Journal was well received with messages of support from Cottrell and Co. and advertising from dental companies such as Cardozo Ltd; promoting E.D.T.A. with Cetrimid; and book sellers Henry Kimpton who offered Endodontics by John Ingle and Endodontic Practice by Louis Grossman for sale. International interest in both the Society, its meetings and its Journal grew rapidly. In the second issue of the Journal, the BES President, Dr. Maxwell Saunders, noted that the Society was enjoying healthy growth. An editorial singled out Mr. Maurice Rothschild, the Honorary Secretary for his efforts in identifying good speakers from around the world. Dr. Yury Kuttler of Mexico accepted an invitation to speak at the April 1967 meeting. This issue was printed by letter press rather than the offset-litho process to enable illustrations and radiographs to be reproduced more clearly.

The publisher was Henry Evans and Co. In May 1967 the Society held a joint symposium with the Metropolitan Branch of the BDA. The meeting was very well attended and it was generally agreed that awareness of endodontic procedures was growing within the UK general dental establishment. Further editions provided continued momentum, emphasising the use of rubber dam, better radiography and instrument use to improve standards and avoid litigation for procedural problems. Editorials addressed political and service related issues, including the lack of younger dentists wishing to join the Society, problems with Health Service endodontic provision, failings within undergraduate endodontic training, limited access to postgraduate training, and the ideal length of canal preparation/desirability of penetrating the apical foramen.

A report was also carried out in 1968 on the General Dental Council’s proposal to register specialists in dental disciplines. An editorial by the 1968 President Maurice Rothschild, suggested that one of the purposes of a specialist society was to lay down guidelines for clinical practice, with the recognition of a need for treatment guidelines in endodontics. At this time, this was the only endodontic journal published in the English language. It was issued free to all members of the Society, who in 1968 paid an annual subscription of two guineas(£2.2.0.).

Financial pressures were recognised even in the early days, with a backlog of articles awaiting publication and a need to address the backlog by purchasing additional print pages. Members were asked to actively recruit colleagues and to promote the Society and its Journal. The Journal went from strength to strength and continued to publish current research, abstracts from other journals and reviewed the newest textbooks of the day.

An Expanding and Innovating Society:

The Society continued to hold meetings both in London and in the provinces, with venues including Leeds, The Lake District, Norwich, Bristol, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Chester-le-Street, Stratford-on Avon, Manchester, Brighton, Glasgow, Cardiff, Dublin, Swansea, Chichester, Oxford, York, Harrogate, Bournemouth, Guernsey, Jersey, Winchester, Scarborough, Torquay, Chester, Edinburgh, Sutton Coldfield, Bath and Liverpool. In 1970, Mr. Maurice Rothschild reported on an excellent presentation to a Provincial meeting held in Cardiff, when Professor Norman Butler had lectured on “Apical Debridement Techniques” using two projectors simultaneously.

The Journal reported regularly on meetings of the American Association of Endodontists, and its letters page became a popular forum for the exchange of views on recently published research. The greater size of the American Association of Endodontists was acknowledged with the recognition that this may reflect a greater private sector market in the U.S.A. than the UK. The BES continued to discuss the prospect of specialisation within the UK but felt that this was unlikely to occur for some time.

The Society was however represented on the Joint Committee for Higher Training in Dentistry. The problem of good clinical research and obtaining enough clinical cases for research was discussed in other editorials. The value of good planning and perhaps multi-centre approaches was also discussed.

The Birth of Implant Dentistry:

A further editorial in 1970 discussed the activities of various Implant Societies and the growing use of endosseuos implants. An editorial suggested “screwing of a tooth support” into the edentulous space would be an ideal solution to replace a missing tooth, avoiding the preparation of adjacent teeth to construct a bridge. There was much discussion on the types of implants available and the recent evidence that bone had been demonstrated to form against the surface of one type of implant. Some Highlights from the 1970s In 1971, an editorial reported on a Dental Trade Show in Munich that was incorporated into a dental meeting, suggesting that such a model would be a welcome development for future BES meetings.

In 1972, an enlarged issue of the Journal was published to celebrate the entry of the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community. It was hoped that this union would bring the Journal to the attention of new readers in the Continental Europe.

In 1973 there was a report on a successful collection of table clinics presented at the Annual Provincial Meeting in Oxford. The meeting also disclosed that due to a reorganisation of the publisher, the Society had been offered the copyright of the Journal. A decision was made to acquire the Journal and assume greater responsibility for it’s publication for the future publication.

In 1974, the American Association of Endodontists, the American Dental Society of Europe and the British Endodontic Society held a joint meeting in London on 30th-31st June.

In 1975, the inaugural meeting of the British Endodontic Society Study Club was held at the Columbia Club, Lancaster Gate, London. It was hoped that further study clubs would be established outside London to continue this idea.

Also in 1975, the Journal of the British Endodontic Society welcomed a second English language publication in endodontics, with the first edition of the Journal of the Endodontics. The BES expressed a wish that the new journal would neither be parochial nor doctrinaire and that material published would reflect a liberal approach to the subject.

In the same year, the new President Mr. Fred Harty reviewed the first twelve years of the Society and reported that it was active in the following fields: Two, two day meetings per annum, aimed at both the general practitioner and the endodontic teacher. Providing a limited number of postgraduate lectures and courses organised on basic and specialised subjects. Using the Journal to actively promote endodontics in the United Kingdom. Using the study club to encourage practitioners in the field of endodontics. Mr. Harty wrote to all the previous Presidents of the Society to gauge their opinion on formulating both a short and long term policy for and future aims of the Society.

There was a great deal of debate amongst them at this time as to whether the Society should remain as a separate entity or merge with another branch of dentistry. There were advocates of both but no agreement was reached on which branch of dentistry endodontics was closest to. Dentistry in the Americas was noted to have moved towards recognising specialisation in endodontics but the predominant opinion within the Society at the time was that endodontics was too narrow a subject to exist on its own. Concern was expressed that if a speciality was established, it might theoretically be possible for a young graduate to become a “specialist” without knowing what dentistry was all about.

It was agreed that in order to fulfil the original aims of the Society, the following action was needed: Teaching groups should be formed, prepared to travel and teach in all regions of the country. An endodontic teacher’s workshop should be set up to consider the teaching of the subject at undergraduate level. Joint meetings should be undertaken with other societies.

The Society should become more active in the investigation and assessment of new materials and techniques. In 1976 there was a joint two day joint meeting of the British Endodontic Society and the British Society for Restorative Dentistry held at the Royal College of Surgeons in London.

The Journal of the British Endodontic Society under BES Control:

The Journal had come under complete control of the Society in 1973 after a reorganisation of the publishers, Evans and Co. During this time the Society was offered the copyright of the Journal and chose to acquire it and assume responsibility for its publication. The Editor of the Journal at this time was Dr. Richard Johns with Professor Jack Rowe as Consultant Editor.

Significant changes to the journal format quickly followed, including an expansion of the abstracts section to expose readers to important developments in other journals and areas of research. It was noted that the task of writing these précis had fallen on colleagues within the Society and a debt of gratitude was noted. Further stylistic alterations were included to improve readability and facilitate the marking of interesting articles by readers.

In 1977 the subscription to the British Endodontic Society was £5 per annum, which included 2 issues of the Journal. Back numbers were also available on request as well as bound copies. In 1978 the first workshop on the teaching of Endodontics in the Dental Schools of the United Kingdom and Ireland was held at the Eastman Dental Hospital, London on 17th-18th October.

In 1979 the Society decided to adopt its own badge to be used on notepaper certificates and presentation plaques. It was noted at the time that the council were divided on this issue and members were offered a prize of £20 to design such a badge. An annual student essay prize was also established for undergraduates with a first prize of £100 and a second one of £50 for the best essay on a chosen topic.

In 1979 The Greater London Endodontic Study Club meeting was held in Sardinia with Mr. Fred Harty as principal speaker. The meeting was held at the Hotel Residence Park on the Costa Smeralda and cost £165, including flights from Gatwick by British Caledonian.

40 Year Celebrations:

The British Endodontic Society celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2003. The then President, Professor Tom Pitt-Ford welcomed a large group of members to The Crown Plaza Hotel in Liverpool on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th October. The title of the meeting was “Turning Endodontic failure into Success - Endodontic retreatment” and table clinic presenters included Dr. Bunsan Chong, Mr. Chris Emery, Dr. Eeva Lavonius, Dr. Eva Siren, Mr. Andrew Powell-Cullingford, Dr. Geoff Seccombe and Mr. Bill Seddon. The speakers for meeting were Dr. Elizabeth Saunders, Professor William Saunders, Dr. John Rhodes, Mr. Simon Cunnington, Dr. Tony Hoskinson and Mr. Kishor Gulabivala. In 2007 the Society joined forces with the BSP, BSSPD and BSRD for Pan Society Meeting, which was held in Birmingham on 16th and 17th November.

The conference was such a success attracting delegates across the restorative specialism that two further conferences were held in 2011 and 2016. In 2012 the Society became a Limited Company, already being a member of the Charity Commission for a number of years During its existence the British Endodontic Society has had a long line of distinguished Presidents and many members have served on the council in various roles, each bringing their own uniqueness and dedication to the role. Additionally, the Society could not have functioned without assistance from its former Administration Secretary Mrs. Di Stock and the present one Mrs. Annabel Thomas.

Present Day:

As the British Endodontic Society moves towards its 50th Anniversary in 2013 the Society is in excellent shape with a growing membership. The Society continues to promote endodontology at undergraduate level by sponsoring prizes and at postgraduate level by providing research grants of various amounts. It also has prizes for poster abstracts on new research undertaken in the United Kingdom. The meetings continue to be well attended attracting speakers from across the globe.

The Society is also represented on many influential academic boards that define the principles and policies of endodontics in this country and beyond. As an influential and well respected Society it continues to adapt to future challenges within the field of endodontics whilst continuing with the original ideals laid down when it was first conceived in 1963.

Map of British Endodontic Society 4 Victoria Square, St Albans UK AL1 3TF

British Endodontic Society

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