A study supported by the University of Kent is looking at the prescription, manufacture and fitting of flexible dentures by dentists and clinical dental technicians who practise in the UK and are members of the College of General Dentistry.
We encourage College members to support this research, which is led by Ali Al Bayati AssocFCGDent, by sparing a few minutes of their time to complete this short survey.
Friday 3 December 2021, Glasgow.
Informative updates on treatments for perio and endodontics
This study day presented an opportunity for you to keep your practice up-to-date, in order to give your patients the most suitable and relevant treatment. Networking with colleagues and peers also provided the means to discuss dental issues with others and share experiences and recommendations to enhance your approach to practice afterwards.
Continue reading “Scotland Study Day 2021”
Recorded webinar. Thursday 25 November 2021.
In the first of our Talking Standards webinar series, which sets out to examine areas covered by our evidence-based standards and guidance, we shone the spotlight on global efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance locally.
We explore the ways in which dental teams can help keep patients safe from untreatable infections, consider why dental practitioners might overprescribe antibiotics and discuss the impact of COVID-19, referring to the Antimicrobial Prescribing in Dentistry Good Practice Guidelines.
Speakers:
CGDent members and ProDental subscribers can claim CPD hours for free and have access to the recording after the event. A £20 fee will apply for non-members/non-subscribers who wish to claim CPD.
This webinar is part of the new partnership between the College of General Dentistry (CGDent) and ProDental CPD.
Membership of the College of General Dentistry is open to all registered dental professionals. Membership for dentists is available from £94, and for other registered dental professionals from £33. The full list of CGDent membership rates is at https://cgdent.uk/membership-fees/.
Friday 19 November 2021, Gateshead
CGDent Northern (formerly FGDP Northern) presented a full, in-person Study Day, including 6 hours of CPD, catering, trade show and networking with peers.
‘No more nails’, presented by Dr James Field, focussed on all things prosthodontic, including planning, prognosis, impression taking, jaw relationships, stabilisation, partial dentures and implant-supported dentures.
The College of General Dentistry (CGDent), the UK’s only professional body dedicated to primary dental care, has formally launched its Postgraduate Certificate in Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics.
Serving those who are considering entering this growing area of practice but have little or no prior experience, the course is designed to be flexible to suit the needs of those working in general dental practice, while equipping them with the theoretical understanding and practical skills they need to offer cosmetic injectables to their patients.
The college is represented on the Education and Training Committee of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), the body which sets standards for cosmetic practice and maintains registers of appropriately trained cosmetic practitioners, and CGDent’s comprehensive programme has been carefully designed to align with the JCCP’s competency framework, with a syllabus covering:
Participants can enrol at any time and may take between 6 months and 2 years to complete the programme, which combines online learning with face-to-face teaching and practice available in four locations. The modules include observation and performance of at least 40 cases, all of which are provided and 20 of which are mentored on a 1:1 basis, with participants given a choice of dates and clinical sites.
The programme is delivered by RASA Academy and led by Dr Jalpesh Patel, a dental practitioner, advanced facial aesthetic practitioner and member of the JCCP’s Practitioner Register Committee. Dr Patel holds a Master’s in Aesthetic Dentistry from King’s College London, in which he graduated with distinction, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Skin Ageing and Aesthetic Medicine from the University of Manchester.
Dr Patel recently delivered a series of online seminars for the College of General Dentistry, entitled Introduction to Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics, Facial Aesthetics: Clinical Cases and Applied Anatomy, and Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics: Complications. All three are available to watch on ProDental CPD via the above links.
He has also posted a blog about his journey into facial aesthetics, and how his own experience of the available training options inspired him to develop the new programme with CGDent.
The launch of the new Level 7 qualification builds on the heritage of the Faculty of General Dental Practice, which ran a Masterclass in Facial Aesthetics programme from 2009-16.
Dental professionals interested in applying should visit https://cgdent.uk/our-dentistry-qualifications.
Members of the College of General Dentistry, and subscribers to ProDental CPD, have free access to the recordings of the webinars listed above – and all other live and recorded ProDental and CGDent-ProDental events – and can also claim free CPD certificates. A £20 fee will apply per webinar for non-members/non-subscribers who wish to access the recordings.
To receive information on upcoming CGDent webinars and events, sign up to the CGDent newsletter.
The College of General Dentistry has endorsed the newly-published fourth edition of Delivering Better Oral Health: an evidence based toolkit for prevention.
With chapters covering behaviour change, dental caries, periodontal diseases, oral cancer, tooth wear, oral hygiene, fluoride, healthier eating, alcohol, smoking and tobacco use, the revised document gives dental teams access to the best evidence of what works for oral health improvement, all in one place, to help them provide high quality preventative care and advice to patients.
The summary guidance tables remain an invaluable resource for general dental professionals, and new content has been added on infant feeding and early detection of oral cancer, further detail given on tobacco cessation and alcohol reduction, and a new table included which focusses on accelerated tooth wear.
The fourth edition also offers case studies in supporting behaviour change, as well as greater consideration of the oral health of older people and other vulnerable groups, and a new digital format provides better accessibility on mobile devices.
Issued jointly by Public Health England and the Departments of Health in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is the result of a comprehensive review of published evidence on prevention involving over 100 experts, among them frontline dental teams and patient representatives.
Ian Mills FCGDent, College Ambassador and past Dean of the Faculty of General Dental Practice, was among those overseeing its development, and Yann Maidment MCGDent, Council Member and College Research Lead, is on the Delivering Better Oral Health Implementation Group.
The document is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-oral-health-an-evidence-based-toolkit-for-prevention
Dr Jalpesh Patel, Founder of RASA Academy, one of the College’s Trusted Training Providers, describes how his own experience of the available training options inspired him to develop the new Postgraduate Certificate in Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics with CGDent.
It is funny how your career pans out; I would have never thought that when I graduated, I would then go on to establish a training academy in Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics and develop a postgraduate certificate programme with a dental college. Fortunately, it has been a fantastic journey thus far.
In my very early career as a general dental practitioner there was a demand for cosmetic injectable treatments at the practices I was working at and it was the receptionists who encouraged me to embark on some training in this field I knew little about. At the time the trend was to attend a few short courses, which were often in big groups with minimal applied and “hands on” training and then you were encouraged to start seeing your own patients. Naively this is how I proceeded and needless to say there were some anxieties. When I look back to why I established RASA Academy this was one of the overriding reasons; to make sure practitioners did not have this feeling and that they were incredibly prepared prior to seeing their own patients.
As my career progressed, non-surgical facial aesthetics proved to form a large part of my clinical activity. Having completed a Masters in Aesthetic Dentistry, which had a small proportion dedicated to cosmetic injectables, I also attended a number of other courses as well as completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Skin Ageing and Aesthetic Medicine at the University of Manchester. It was at this stage I became more involved in the regulatory aspects of this industry, which made me realise that there was a “movement” occurring towards stricter regulation and the realisation there had to be more formality to the educational pathways involved in this industry. This was the trigger for the establishment of RASA Academy; which in the last 18 months has collaborated with the CGDent to develop the innovative Postgraduate Certificate in Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics which provides dental practitioners with a comprehensive training route into this industry.
The main aims of this programme are to give a busy practitioner the opportunity to embark on a structured pathway to help them steer their career partially or fully into providing cosmetic injectables. It is highly clinical (40+ cases will be observed and treated at the academy) and so students will transition from the training environment to practising independently with confidence, in contrast to when I was training many years ago.
Unlike attending a number of short courses, the detailed structure of the programme ensures students benefit from a holistic approach to their training covering a set number of clinical cases, from assessment to treatment, and evidence-based theory as well as developing a detailed commercial and business awareness to help grow their aesthetic practice.
We place an emphasis on applied, patient-facing learning which takes place in both small groups and 1:1 mentoring sessions with our highly experienced trainers. Our trainers have a variety of clinical backgrounds from dentists that work exclusively in dental practice to boutique aesthetic clinic owners, as well as injectors for reputable skin clinics. The blend and delivery of learning is fantastic and the collaboration with the College of General Dentistry has been entirely appropriate as our visions and ethos are aligned.
From a student’s perspective, the rubber stamp from the College ensures the training has been quality assured to a high level and they are embarking on a programme which will have a level of future proofing and rigour. Interestingly, there are currently no similar College-backed programmes and so this is truly a unique and impactful offering, which I believe will make a real difference to someone’s career in an industry which has significantly growing demand.
We currently have our first cohort of students going through the programme and are really excited to be accepting new candidates for enrolment. We would be delighted to welcome prospective students who are considering venturing into this field or wishing to increase their scope of practice in non-surgical facial aesthetics. We also have completed a series of webinars covering many important topics including an introduction to facial aesthetics, how to plan your educational journey whilst considering regulation, clinical considerations, cases and complications. These are aimed at practitioners at all stages of their facial aesthetics career but in particular those in the consideration phase or early stages. CGDent members have complimentary access to these videos and can also claim CPD.
The CGDent and ProDental CPD Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics webinar series, presented by Dr Jalpesh Patel, is available below.
CGDent members and ProDental subscribers have free access to the recordings and can claim CPD for free. A £20 fee will apply for non-members/non-subscribers. To receive information on upcoming CGDent webinars and events, sign up to the CGDent newsletter.
The CGDent’s Postgraduate Certificate in Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics is suitable for candidates seeking to incorporate non-surgical aesthetic medicine in their practice or to embark fully in a career in this area. Find out more and apply here.
The College of General Dentistry has announced the appointments of Dr Ian Mills, Marie Parker and Dr Pouya Zohrabpour as ambassadors.
New CGDent Ambassadors (l-r) Dr Pouya Zohrabpour, Marie Parker, Dr Ian Mills
Drawn from a variety of backgrounds, College Ambassadors have a remit to advocate for the college’s mission and vision, and the new appointments further expand the range of expertise and scope of influence among its team of ambassadors, and increase its size to fifteen.
Dr Ian Mills FCGDent is a Founder and former Trustee of the College of General Dentistry, a partner in an eight-surgery mixed NHS-and-private practice in North Devon, and Associate Professor in Primary Care Dentistry at Peninsula Dental School. A past Dean of the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) and former Trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, he has represented the profession on a range of local and national committees including Devon LDC, the BDA General Dental Practice Committee and NHS England’s Dental Systems Reform Advisory Board, and in 2020 was a member of the CGDent-FGDP COVID-19 guideline development group and SDCEP’s AGP Rapid Review group. He is a Fellow of CGDent, the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the International College of Dentistry and the Higher Education Academy, and a past Fellow of FGDP, and in 2018 he was awarded a PhD from Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry for his research on person-centred care in dentistry. Involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education, and actively engaged in practice-based research, his other research interests include patient-reported outcome measures and environmental sustainability in dentistry.
Marie Parker is the Deputy Programme Director of Hygiene and Therapy at University College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London and an Associate Member of CGDent. Since qualifying as a dental nurse, Marie has worked in various areas of dentistry and completed a number of leadership and management qualifications, as well as a Master’s in Education. An advocate and promoter of dental nursing careers, and of improving the accessibility of education and training for all registered dental care professionals, she has been involved in the training and education of dental nurses and other members of the dental team throughout most of her career. Currently co-chair of the Dental Trailblazers group, she is a past Chair and Trustee of the National Examining Board for Dental Nurses.
Dr Pouya Zohrabpour graduated BDS from the University of Bristol in 2020 and is an Associate Member of CGDent. He completed his Foundation Training in north-west London, where he continues to work as an associate dentist in both a mixed and a private practice, and earlier this year he received the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK’s Foundation Dentist of the Year award in recognition of his professionalism, dedication, and development of training initiatives for young dentists. He pursues his passion for teaching through his Two Dentists YouTube channel and Instagram account, and collaborates with the My Dental Care app to create oral health videos aimed at educating the public.
Commenting on the new appointments, Dr Abhi Pal FCGDent, President of the College, said:
“A strong, dynamic, diverse team of ambassadors is important to the College in working towards eligibility for the award of a Royal Charter and realising its considerable potential for the profession and our patients. Ian, Marie and Pouya bring with them a range of experience and professional interests which will help the College fulfil its aspirations. Marie and Pouya reflect the diverse dental professional backgrounds which the College has a mission to support, from established members of the dental team to those who are beginning their careers in dentistry, and as a past Dean of the FGDP, Ian was instrumental in CGDent’s formation, and brings considerable experience. I am delighted to welcome them as College Ambassadors and look forward to working with them.”
Ian Mills said:
“I am honoured to be invited to be a College Ambassador. I believe the establishment of the new college was a historic moment for dentistry, building on the fantastic achievements of the FGDP(UK). Dentistry is facing a number of huge challenges at the present time, and there is no doubt that CGDent will play a vital role in leading and supporting the dental profession in the years and decades ahead. The COVID pandemic has demonstrated the importance of collaboration, cooperation and inclusiveness. It is hugely encouraging to see that CGDent has these values at its core as the collegiate home for all members of the dental team.”
Marie Parker said:
“I’m delighted to be appointed an ambassador for the College of General Dentistry. The college has, from the start of its journey, ensured that dental nurses, together with all other dental care professionals, have been included in its development. Now more than ever it is important that the professions come together to overcome current challenges and realise the potential of the dental team. I look forward to working with the college to promote, champion and celebrate the role and importance of dental nurses.”
Pouya Zohrabpour said:
“The College of General Dentistry will positively influence the careers of many dental professionals, and aid us all in our development. I am excited to have a role in this journey as a College Ambassador, and look forward to helping the college in achieving its goals and visions.”
Previously appointed College Ambassadors include:
Recorded webinar. Monday 1 November 2021.
This webinar is part of our ‘PDJ Live’ series, which examines topics covered in contemporary issues of the Primary Dental Journal, the College of General Dentistry’s quarterly peer-reviewed member journal for the whole dental team.
It is one of three events exploring the subjects of the papers in the June 2021 issue on leadership and professionalism, and convenes some of the authors, together with a range of other voices from across the profession, to discuss aspects of the theme of women in dentistry.
The issue features a paper entitled Reaching a female majority: a silent transition for dentistry in the United Kingdom, and we examine the issue of gender balance within the UK dental professions. Inspired by the article on COVID-19, leadership and gender equality: preparing for the challenges ahead, we also consider the continuing inequality of women in leadership roles and dental specialties, the challenges for women in dentistry and how to make positive change.
CGDent members interested in reading the articles ahead of the webinar will find both in their print copy of the June issue, or can read them online by logging in to the CGDent website and visiting https://cgdent.uk/primary-dental-journal-member-only/. Non-members can access the first paper via the title link above as it has been made free-to-view online. Other papers can be rented or purchased, and non-members also have the option to take out an annual subscription.
Chair:
Mick Horton, Guest Editor of the June 2021 issue of the Primary Dental Journal
Speakers:
CGDent members and ProDental subscribers have access to the recording of this event, and can claim CPD hours, free of charge. A £20 fee applies for non-members/non-subscribers.
This webinar is part of the new partnership between the College of General Dentistry (CGDent) and ProDental CPD.
Membership of the College of General Dentistry is open to all registered dental professionals. Membership for dentists is available from £94, and for other registered dental professionals from £33. The full list of CGDent membership rates is at https://cgdent.uk/membership-fees/.
Recorded webinar. Tuesday 5 October 2021.
Participants take an honest look at urgent dental care (UDC) during and after the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The opportunities and challenges that arose during the pandemic are examined and new models for UDC considered.
Chair:
Dr Wendy Thompson, general dental practitioner and academic
Speakers:
CGDent members and ProDental subscribers have access to the recording of this event, and can claim CPD hours, free of charge. A £20 fee applies for non-members/non-subscribers.
Part of the partnership between the College and ProDental CPD, this webinar is in our PDJ Live series, which discusses issues and topics highlighted in the College’s themed, member journal, Primary Dental Journal. To receive information on further upcoming events, sign up to the CGDent newsletter.
Membership of the College of General Dentistry is open to all registered dental professionals. Membership for dentists is available from £94, and for other registered dental professionals from £33. The full list of CGDent membership rates is at https://cgdent.uk/membership-fees/.
