The winners of the 2025 Max Horsnell Travel Award and National Student Elective prize are announced today by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). These annual awards recognise vision and endeavour in the field of paediatric dentistry. These BSPD prizes are awarded each year following a judging process for both that is overseen by three members of BSPD’s Conference Abstract and Prize Committee (CAPC).

The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD), the organisation of dentists and their teams who care for children’s teeth and gums, have developed a leaflet providing oral health advice for parents and carers of autistic children and young people (CYP). Written in consultation with autism experts and parents of autistic CYP, this leaflet provides up to date support for those caring for neurodivergent children or those with additional sensory needs.

Today’s Government announcement to extend the provision of free school meals from the start of the 2026 school year to include all pupils whose households receive Universal Credit is warmly welcomed by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). As a supporter of the Free School Meals for All campaign, the Society has long been an advocator of free school meals for all primary school children in the UK.

BSPD’s Outstanding Innovation Award (OIA) for 2025 has gone to Harriet McQuillan for delivering a resource folder for clinicians to support non-verbal communication. The winning initiative, entitled Service Evaluation into the use of Alternative Augmentative Communication, aims to improve communications between the dental team and children with learning disabilities. The communication resource folder for clinicians is a valuable resource since it outlines practical yet straight-forward advice to support non-verbal communication.

Today’s announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to invest a record £11 million to improve children’s oral health in England, is warmly welcomed by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD). The commitment to fund a targeted supervised toothbrushing scheme for three, four and five year olds in England is aligned to BSPD’s recommendation to invest in a preventative approach.