Welcome to the annual conference of the British Association of Teachers of Conservative Dentistry, which is being held in Trinity College Dublin in conjunction with the Association of Basic Science Teachers in Dentistry. The conference will take place immediately before the meeting of the Pan European Federation of the International Association for Dental Research which is being held in Trinity College Dublin from 13 to 16 September 2006, the website for this meeting is http://www.pef2006.com.

The topic for this year is based around the teaching of basic science teaching and conservative dentistry together with strategies for caries diagnosis, treatment and restorative care. Speakers will include Ian Pretty, Michael O'Sullivan, David Ricketts and Michael Manogue We hope you find this a stimulating, convivial and enjoyable conference - welcome to Dublin.

The venue for the conference is the leafy the campus of Trinity College Dublin. Accommodation has been arranged in via the PEF Website. The Arts Block is the venue for registration, coffee breaks, lunch and trade displays, while the annual dinner will be held in the Dining Hall in Trinity College.

AAs well as the intellectual side of the conference, we have not forgotten the equally important social side. The annual golf tournament is organised by Niall O'Connor, and will take place on the Tuesday morning in the attractive setting of. Heads of Department however, will have their meeting at this time.

We would like to thank our many sponsors without whose support we could not hold this event; we encourage delegates to visit them at the trade displays in the Arts Block and to view their websites via the links on each page of the BATCD website.

The BATCD 2006 organising team:-

• Dr Frank Burke - University College Cork, Organising Committee Chair
• Professor Brian O'Connell - Trinity College Dublin
• Dr David Hussey - Queens University Belfast
• Dr Niall O'Connor - Golf Tournament
• James Rimell - Web design