A farewell message from our President…

Dear Member

This year has passed incredibly quickly and it is hard to believe this is my final message as BSP President. It has been an honour and a privilege to lead the Society and I am immensely proud of all that we have achieved together.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to our volunteer Council members, Council representatives and Patient Forum members. Your dedication and generosity in giving your time have been vital in helping the Society meet the ambitious goals we set at the start of the year.

Our active Early Career Group also deserves special recognition. They delivered a successful Study Day with the SRRDG, hosted a social event at The Oral Health Summit, and supported our international speakers as Speaker Guides. Their plans for 2026 are already well underway, including a hands-on Masterclass in Mucogingival Surgery in March, another joint Study Day with SRRDG in July and a social event at the York Conference. They are outstanding ambassadors for the Society and I greatly admire their enthusiasm and commitment to helping the BSP grow.

I am grateful to our 2025 Partner Sponsors: Acteon, Haleon, Kenvue, Oral-B, Philips, and Straumann. We value the collaborative relationships we enjoy with these companies and appreciate the support they provide, which enables many of our activities throughout the year. Further information about our Partner Sponsors can be found on our website.

Our membership is wonderfully diverse, comprising dentists, hygienists, therapists, researchers, academics, specialists, generalists, and the future of our profession: undergraduate students. It was a pleasure to bring many of you together this year, first in Vienna at EuroPerio11 and later at The Oral Health Summit in Edinburgh. It was inspiring to see members from across the world united by a shared passion for periodontology.

Several of our key projects will continue into 2026. The global Dentine Hypersensitivity Practice Guideline, completed in September, will be published in Perio 2000 in January. The BSP S3-level clinical practice guidelines will offer oral-healthcare professionals precise therapeutic pathways based on individual patient diagnoses and provide evidence-based recommendations for achieving the best outcomes for patients with dentine hypersensitivity. To support the wider dental community, we will also be presenting webinars on this topic.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the BSP Management Team for their unwavering support and dedication: Professor Luigi Nibali, Honorary Secretary; Dr Ian Dunn, Honorary Treasurer; and our Managers, Paula Dunn and Joanne Brown. We work closely together across all aspects of Society business, engaging with partners and stakeholders, overseeing operations, and responding to clinical enquiries from both members and non-members. Thank you, Luigi, Ian, Paula, and Jo, for your support throughout this year.

My final thanks go to you—our members. Your support and loyalty are invaluable and your interests remain at the centre of everything we do. I hope you feel well-served by our communications, educational programme, and initiatives.

As I step down, I am delighted to hand over the leadership of the Society to Dr Paul Baker. I am confident he will have a highly successful year and I encourage you all to save the date for his Conference in York in October 2026.

I wish you a restful break at the end of the month and my very best wishes for a healthy and happy 2026.

Best wishes

Nicola

Professor Nicola West
President 
The British Society of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry