The Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE, will address the 2011 British Dental Conference and Exhibition on Thursday 19 May. This has been it has been long awaited and it gets confirmed this week. Mr Lansley will address the gathering on the first day of the event. This is going to be held at Manchester's Central Convention Complex.

Delegates at the event will get to hear about the latest reforms that have been made in dentistry in England. This will be first hand as they hear from Mr Lansley about the changes that are there in the pipeline and the repercussions of it.

This is an important time for dentistry as there are ideas floating to develop a new dental contract. Commissioning arrangements too are going to be discussed and a completely and significantly new national commissioning board that would be responsible for dental care. Mr Lansley is expected to answer questions posed at the session which will make it interactive and give participants to have their queries answered.

Dr Susie Sanderson, Chair of the British Dental Association's Executive Board posted that they were certainly delighted to be hosting the meeting in Manchester this year. The  British Dental Conference and Exhibition is an event that is looked forward to. Dentistry in England is in a period of change that will bring about the removal of flaws and newer contracts and processes put in place. The other thing that is being looked into is dentistry commissioned by a national board, rather than primary care trusts. This has already been proposed in the Health and Social Care Bill. Dentists from across England are eager to find out more about the Government’s proposals."

The 2011 British Dental Conference and Exhibition is going to be held from Thursday 19 May to Saturday 21 May. The programme includes renowned UK and international speakers.