Recognition

A restorative dentist from UCC has won the poster competition at the recent Specialist Registrars in Restorative Dentistry Group (SRRDG) meeting in London.

Dr Martina Hayes’ presentation was on the ‘Clinical performance of root surface restorations in older adults’ and looked at comparing the clinical findings of different restorative materials when lesions on the root surface.

The poster presented the early findings of the study, which indicates that glass ionomer cements and resin modified cements are the most appropriate materials for this indication. However, the study states that no firm conclusions can be drawn until the patients have been followed up over a longer period of time.

Asked about her win, Martina said: “I was delighted. An award like this validates the importance of conducting clinical research even though at times it is very challenging.

“For this study, my dental nurse Vanessa and I have had to recruit and examine more than 300 adults aged over 65 which was very time consuming and labour intensive. It’s fantastic to see that the judges appreciated how much work is involved in a study like this and felt that this research could have a real impact on clinical practice for general dentists.”