Society News
1st September 2004
The Second Annual Conference took place at the Hyatt Regency Coolum, July 23-25 2004.
Our principle guest speaker was Dr Ray Becker, from Maryland, USA. Ray provide 3 solid days of tuition, teaching and fun. His visit was presaged by his DVD on posterior Cerec crowns using the Antagonist feature of the software, distributed free with conference registration. Ray's lectures covered all aspects of Cerec use and included demonstrations of his staining and glazing technique, and an in-depth look at big cases involving anterior aesthetics. Delegates were enthusiastic about his infectious enthusiasm for dentistry. Ray also provided help during the 'Manic Morning'. But what was the Manic Morning?
On the first day of the conference, the Executive offered free software training for newbies (and some not-so-newbies) for three hours of non-stop-Cerec. On hand were almost all of the country's ISCD-certified trainers. Many thanks to Brad Wright, John and Terry Fenn, David Robertson and Mark Sinclair. This training session turned out to be wildly popular, overrunning our limited space and PC capacity. More software training sessions were organised during breaks in the main programme and they turned out to be popular too—so much so that they are sure to be a regular part of CadCamCon into the future.
Ray shared his lecturing duties with the ever-popular Dr David Roessler, who shared insights in restoring implants (and other teeth) with Cerec. He was joined by Dr Liz Martin, a Sydney University lecturer who kept us on the straight and narrow with a timely review of bonding as well as explaining the ins and outs of using PCR techniques to identify bacteria in deep carious lesions.
The social side of the conference was equally successful and included a cocktail party on the first night followed by the Annual Dinner on the Saturday night of the conference. A light-hearted highlight of the dinner was the Cerec Trivia quiz, (won by table ten, I think?). Click here for Trivia Quiz
The annual meeting 'in real life' of the ASCD took place bright and early on Sunday morning. This was a very productive session where the executive received excellent feedback on their efforst with good ideas for the future.
Worth commenting upon was the complete absence of commercial trade exhibitors for the duration of the conference. Because of the solid financial support of interested members, as well as the prudent financial management of the executive (but particularly Dr Brad Wright) an early decision to exclude the trade was warmly welcomed by delegates.
But why do this? A scientific conference doesn't need the trade to be successful; delegates expressed a commonly-felt sentiment of being able to engage in discussion without the concomitant need to guard any comments capable of being interpreted negatively by salesmen for various products or services. It's a truism that in Australia today, it's almost impossible to attend a pure scientific meeting, with a 'professionals-only' policy. Given the wide-spread approval for this policy at CadCamCon II, it's likely that it will be continued for 2005.
The conference concluded on Sunday with meat pies being a surprise hit at morning tea, and a light lunch before all headed home. More than 50 delegates had enjoyed an outstanding weekend of learning and companionship. Make sure you don't miss CadCamConIII!
