MSc Advanced Restorative Dentistry

04/01/2022

Very Best Wishes for 2022
We all hope that it will safer and easier than the previous two years.
as the University of Manchester team are starting to preparations for the two Residentials of 2022, we hope that most if not all of cohort 3 will be able to attend in person. If some of the students cannot we continue to build on our considerable experience of delivering interactive hands on teaching by remote means. I think that we have all been pleasantly surprised by how much can be achieved by the one on one teaching of clinical skills that our lecturers and mentors can deliver into some of our students’ surgeries thousands of miles away.
Cohort 2, many of whom could only attend their residentials remotely, have now submitted their final case presentation and it is clear how much they have learned from their MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry program. Congratulations to them for all their hard work.
I will finish as I started with my best wishes to you all, including to Prof Nick Silikas and to Prof Anne-Marie Glenny from whom he takes over as Head of the Dental Division; and also to Julie Spellman who has been our dedicated administrator for the past few years
Best wishes
Stephen Davies

25/10/2021

Dear All
Let me start with an apology
I haven’t managed to do any work on the MSc ARD page recently
It has been an incredibly busy time as the new Occlusion Book will be published by Springer Nature soon; it is all finished and is going through the pre publication stages now, which means a lot of checking of copy
I say it is the new Occlusion book but in reality is is the heavily edited revision of the BDJ book of nearly 20 years ago.
It follows the same format of suggesting Guidelines of Good Occlusal Practices in very nearly all of the Dental Disciplines, with expert contributors for each
I am especially pleased with a vastly expanded chapter on the management of the Worn Dentition
As soon as it is published Professor Justin Durham and I will be pushing to finish the TMD book which we have already started.

COVID has meant that the last two Residentials have been partly remote for everyone and fully remote for some of our overseas students
Any student in Cohort 2 who has not been able to travel to Manchester will be invited to attend Residential 1 for cohort 3, who started their course a few weeks ago

I am excited to announce that we will be setting up the MSc Alumni Association very soon. This will be open to all MSc and Diploma Graduates from both our current MSc program and the one we ran jointly with Healthcare Learning ( formally Smile On).
This is only possible by the enthusiasm of Elisave Liontou (MSc ARD 2020). Contacting everyone is not as easy as you might imagine for Data Protection Rules , so if you would like to be in our MSc Alumnus please could you drop Elsie an email at [email protected]
The Alumnus will organise meetings and study sessions that will be open to Alumni members and each will be able to bring a guest
The meetings will be either physical and remote, or fully remote

Finally to return to my apology at the start: if anyone could help run this page I would be very grateful to hear from you
All the best
Stay safe
Stephen Davies
[email protected]

29/01/2021

January 2021 Here is the latest post from a member of Cohort 2 of the distance learning MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry.
The students on this course are kindly keeping a diary for you, so that you can share their experiences as the course develops.
You will read in Amy's post that engaging in Post Graduate is a journey of discovery. She clearly is excited to learn fresh and unexpected skills, which will immediately enhance her professional life.
Also, she will tell you that despite being an undergraduate at a world ranking Dental School like the University's of Manchester doesn't give you an insight of the depth of its academic activity. You need to be embark on Post-Graduate studies for that.
all the best, and stay safe
Stephen Davies Unit 5 Lead

Thanks Amy:

Hello I’m Amy,
I graduated from Manchester 5 years ago and have worked in general practice since.
Starting January in lockdown number three, it has been great to really throw myself into learning and keep busy through a pretty bleak start to the year!
We have been finishing the first unit on research methods and completing the end of term assignment. I admit I have found this unit challenging to get back into academic writing styles and critical appraisal but slowly I’m feeling more confident and I’m already using these skills in Unit 2 to search topics and appraise the studies I find.
Due to the late start of unit 1 we are finishing unit 1 AND starting unit 2. I so far have really enjoyed the weekly lectures we have had, first in dental materials and now on to treatment planning. This week we have been set a group assignment so I’m looking forward to interacting with the other students more!
Last week our monthly seminar was by Dr Helen Chen, she presented some really interesting topics she has researched in her career from leucite ceramics to bio active toothpastes. It was a great insight into materials science and the applications it has, she also showed us some current research topics incorporating graphene into dental materials. Despite completing my undergrad degree in Manchester I was unaware of the research facilities Manchester had in dental materials and it was truly fascinating.
Next month I’m looking forward to continuing unit 2 in fundamentals of restorative dentistry and applying it to my clinical practice.
Best wishes
Amy

28/12/2020

The MONTHLY by MOUTH post
from Stephen Davies
Lecturer in Temporomandibular and Occlusal Studies Unit 5 Lead of MSc in ARD
Continuing the monthly diary by our students, we are already into month 3 of their Masters in Advanced Restorative Dentistry!
This month's post is from Shaista, who lives far from a cold and wintery Manchester. But you can tell from her post that she is becoming more at home with the University of Manchester's Distance Learning program.
Thanks for your contribution, Shaista:

We are into the third month of the Masters in Advanced Restorative Dentistry, and this journey started with feelings of excitement, slight apprehension, and some anxiety. However, this month these feelings are some what more settled.
I have become comfortable with navigating my way around the online platforms, learned how to access resources and managed online interaction with peers. Doing the on-line Masters whilst based in Dubai has also been interesting: working full-time, doing mum duties 🙈 and the time difference has so far been manageable. It is also lovely to see the diversity in location of other members of this cohort.
More importantly, our first unit- ‘Research Methods’, even though it has been quite intense, it has been incredibly informative and I feel an important unit to start with. So far it has provided me with knowledge and tools to critically assess and review articles, thus enabling me to assess their relevance to my daily practice.
This month culminated in submitting our first assignment, and I am now nervously waiting for the feedback. Hopefully it’s a good mark to start the new year with positivity! 🙌🏻😊
Wishing everyone a great holiday and a wonderful new year!

12/12/2020

Continuing our series from dentists on how Post-graduate education has enhanced their life, we have this post from Dr Luisa Montaldo
She is a member of a very small and select club: a Specialist Orthodontist who works in a Temporomandibular Disorder Clinic.
I have known Luisa, as a friend and colleague, for many years, and being Italian she has her nation's characteristic to bring 'passion' to what ever she does. How lucky we are in Manchester that she brings that passion and dedication to our clinic.
Stephen Davies

grazie mille, Luisa:

" After dental school in 2006, I decided that I wanted to become an orthodontist. In 2009, when I was in the last year of my orthodontic training at university, Dr. J. P Okeson came for a lecture about Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD). I was so impressed by his lecture that the following year I went to the United Stated to attend one of his shadowing programs.
This program gave me both theoretical and practical knowledge about TMD and its multi-disciplinary approach. It was a precious experience that fuelled my passion for TMD. I decided not only did I want to become an orthodontist but I also wanted to treat patients with TMD.
In 2012, I started to work as a Specialty Dentist in TMD at Manchester Dental Hospital. It is a very busy clinic and this gave me the opportunity to see a wide range of different patients and gain more experience. Everyone on the clinic is passionate about their job and always contribute to make improvements.
At the moment, I work as an orthodontist both in NHS and private practices as well as a Specialty Dentist in TMD at Manchester Dental Hospital. Orthodontists are sometimes concerned about the management of a patient with TMD, but I think that the exam of the articulatory system (muscles, TMJs and occlusion) should be an essential part of any initial assessment. This would give the dentist a better understanding about the management of patients and any TMD that may arise in the future."
Luisa Montaldo

26/11/2020

Monthly by Mouth

so our new cohort of the distance learning MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry have got to the end of their second month of study.

To date:
1.they have been exchanging social messages between themselves and some of their tutors on their dedicated WhatsApp grouping,
2. they have had two informal Zoom meetings when we might choose a subject but it is not formal teaching rather an opportunity to talk around a subject [next one is on running a Journal Club, from Mr Charles Crawford who is one of our tutors and runs one of the Journal clubs at the Manchester Dental School]
and of course
3. they have started formal teaching.
....here is Divya's thoughts:
Thanks Divya. All the best. Stay safe. Stephen Davies

"Hi All, I am Divya. I currently practice as a general dentist at a busy practice in Cheshire.
Amidst this second lockdown with all that’s happening around the world, let it be the COVID crisis, to making political history in America, financial downturns to mental health issues etc, etc. It has been a roller coaster of emotions over the last few months for most of us. And like most of us I was looking for a change of scenario, as general practice was starting to get too monotonous and what better way than enrolling into MSc in advanced restorative dentistry.
In the last few weeks, we have been learning research methods, library skills, epidemiology, and critical appraisal. Very soon we have our mid-term assignment submission coming up, and it’s going to be a busy few weeks.
So far, we have had two virtual seminars with Prof. Hugh Devlin and Dr. Stephen Davies on varied topics, which has been very informative in routine practice.
I started off the course with a lot of apprehension, which has now started to fade gradually.As they say practice makes you perfect, and now I understand how to efficiently search for literature and review them, I still have a long way to go but I am all excited to learn new skills.
Virtual introductions and discussions feel quite strange, but I am now hoping to meet our tutors and peers face to face during the residential course during Easter.
That’s all from me for now.

01/11/2020

MONTHLY by MOUTH

here is the first post of the cohort who have just started their MSc in Advnced Restorative Dentistry
It covers the month of October 2020
Please have a read, and watch out for the subsequent ones so you will get a feel for how it feels to be enrolled on this distance learning course of study.
over to Martin:

Hi 👋

After a long radio silence on the group chat I’ve decided to write up our first “Monthly by Mouth”.

So I’m Martin and I work in Edinburgh as a general dentist. I graduated two years ago from the University of Aberdeen and moved to Edinburgh to complete my vocational training, staying on as an associate. As such I am still fairly new to the career but found myself wanting a challenge so here we are.

I have just started on the MSc Advanced Restorative Course. We haven’t done too much just yet, a few introductory lectures at the start of the month were good to meet our peers and staff. Albeit they were very awkward trying to have some normal natural conversation through zoom but much to be expected when unable to physically meet each other. The talks were mostly spent outlining the way the teaching works and what we were looking to achieve from the year. We also had open discussion session with Professor Devlin and Dr Davies which was a good insight into the thought processes we should be working through when tackling some trickier cases.

At present it’s all been as expected, we’re starting on research methods these coming weeks so things will be picking up but currently seems very manageable 👀. Hopefully it continues to do so.

Thanks for your time

Martin

19/10/2020

Monthly By Mouth📢👩‍🎓

"What is it like to study for a MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry, at the University of Manchester ?"

The good news is that you will be able to follow the highs, lows and all of the experiences of the 2020/21 cohort of Post Graduate Students as they navigate their way through this Distance Learning course of study.

Every month one of our students will share their thoughts with you:
What are the projects, we undertook this month?
What went well; what did I find hard?
How is the course affecting my Practice Life?
How is the course affecting my Private Life? [MAYBE NOT]
and lots of other insights in this 'No holds barred' diary.

So be sure to log in every month to follow the Class of 2020.

Many thanks to the students for agreeing to do this.

Stephen Davies.
Lecturer in Occlusal and Temporomandibular Studies
Specialist in Restorative Dentistry
Unit 5 Lead MSc ARD

10/09/2020

Welcome to new Cohort
The staff of the University of Manchester distance learning MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry hosted a Zoom meeting to welcome the new cohort of students. It was lovely to put faces to names and be able to engage with some new BYADs who have chosen Manchester to provide them with their next Post-Graduate adventure.
About half of the students do not live in the UK and 4 different continents are represented.
We were able to give a brief outline of the 6 different modules or units that make up the Masters Degree course, and answer some questions, including how Tutor support is provided.
Greater detail was given about the unique Residential weeks, where the knowledge gained through the weekly lectures is converted into hands on skills. The Director of the Faculty's eLearning support unit explained how the online support structure worked.
All in all it was a very enjoyable first meeting. Finally we put in motion the setting up of a WhatsApp group for the students of this new cohort to get to know each other before and during their shared post-graduate experience.
Best wishes
Stephen Davies
PS BYAD = Bright Young Ambitious Dentist
If you you would like to know more about this course go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDO-Kn5kxPE
and
https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/08327/msc-advanced-restorative-dentistry/

A glimpse into the MSc Advanced Restorative Dentistry programme at The University of Manchester Course details -https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/co...

07/08/2020

𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬:

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝑴𝑺𝒄 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒏

In these most difficult of times, it is very encouraging that enough dentists have the confidence in their careers to undertake this life-changing MSc for the University of Manchester to be able to run this distance learning course.

Every week brings more enquiries and so, if anyone is thinking about joining the course that will start on 17th October 2020, they should get their paperwork in no later than 1st October.

Advanced plans are already in place for the two uniquely useful Residential Weeks. This is when the students learn some hands-on skills from their lecturers.

Of course, the pandemic can disrupt travel plans, but the UoM is prepared.

The 2nd residential of the last cohort had to be converted into a virtual residential at short notice. It was a steep learning curve for the lecturers who were most encouraged by the positive feedback from both the students and senior University staff.

So based upon this experience, contingency plans are being developed to convert the teaching, demonstrations and even the student exercises into virtual reality.

So if you know of anyone who thinks that people are still going to need dentistry, and some of those patients will want better dentistry, please direct them for more information to:

https://www.facebook.com/MScAdvancedRestorativeDentistry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EmYZBnJ5ow

or, to enrol:

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/12576/msc-advanced-restorative-dentistry/

31/07/2020

In Unit 5 of the MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry, Prof. Hugh Devlin is introducing you to some new concepts about 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀
that might help you overcome some of the current problems that patients present to you. Here is a sneak peek.

24/07/2020

Hello there! Today, dentist Anna Martin is sharing with you her experience with postgraduate education and dentistry journey in brief:
"Following dental school I did my foundation year in an NHS practice. I enjoyed it and learnt a lot. One thing in particular I learnt is how little I knew about the practical side of dentistry. I had a lot of theoretical knowledge but no experience. With time and practice my skill as a dentist improved but I began to find more gaps in my dental knowledge as saw more patients and more teeth.

I enrolled onto a post-grad dental course 2 years after completing university - I wanted to be able to do the best for my patients, and I felt this would aid in doing so.

Up to now, 3 years on, it has been the best thing I have done to invest in my dental career. The course increased my knowledge in diagnosis, planning and executing dental treatments which in turn increased my confidence in delivering good results for my patients."