The College of General Dentistry – a UK initiative for the dental team

Title: The College of General Dentistry – a UK initiative for the dental team

Abstract:

For most countries dentists have national organisations such as the British dental Association in the UK together with specialist subject societies to cater for their continuing professional education and development (CPD). For other members of the dental team, hygienists, therapists, nurses and technicians they may have their own separate organisation to which they can subscribe. However, the key words are dental team, and how they may be brought together under one national organisation.

In the UK and based in London, the College of General Dentistry was founded in 2021 to serve the whole team in four Faculties, Dentists, Hygienists and Therapists, Nurses and Technicians. Each Faculty is led by a College Fellow in that discipline. There are Associates, Members, Associate Fellows and full Fellows to reflect accomplishment in dentistry in each Faculty to allow for career progression. The College sets standards, gives authoritative clinical guidance and publishes quarterly the peer review Primary Dental Journal together with CPD.

While College recognises some international qualifications, It’s main aim is to help all members of the dental team progress their careers and gain recognition and postnominal qualifications for their achievements. This may be a blueprint for other countries to follow.

Biography:

Christopher Turner qualified from the Royal Dental Hospital of London with the degree of bachelor of dental surgery with distinctions in 1968 and spent the first few years working in general practice before undertaking higher training in restorative dentistry in London and newcastle upon tyne. During this time, he passed the fellowship in dentistry examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and gained his master of dental surgery degree. In 1979, aged 34 years, he was appointed as a consultant/senior lecturer in the University of Sheffield Dental School with the remit to establish new department and a self-contained multi-surgery unit, separate from the School, for final year dental students to help them make the transition to qualified general practitioner. This was the first unit of its kind in the UK, has been copied and continues in the same building today. Then in 1984, he moved to an NHS appointment as director of dental services in salisbury. He took early retirement from the NHS in 2000 to establish a multidisciplinary private referral practice before retiring in 2012. He has always had an interest in prevention and plaque control and the links between diabetes mellitus and periodontitis, and is the inventor of the Chooseabrush® method to help patients with gingival recession optimise their oral health.