College of General Dentistry News

Diploma in Restorative Dentistry reunion

The College has issued an open invitation to all those who participated in the Diploma in Restorative Dentistry programme of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) to join a special gathering of alumni.

Candidates awaiting conferral of awards by the former FGDP(UK) at a Diplomates’ Day

The gathering will mark 20 years of the landmark programme, and past candidates and diplomates will be joined by a number of past directors and examiners of the programme, including Paul Brunton, David Cheshire, Phil Dawson FCGDent, Nick Lewis FCGDent, Mike Mulcahy FCGDent and Ian Wood FCGDent.

The reunion will take place on Friday 13 June 2025 in The Old Banqueting Hall within the historic Cutlers’ Hall in Sheffield, and will be incorporated within both the Inaugural College of General Dentistry Lecture and College Summer Reception.

The lecture, ‘Satisficing’ standards in dentistry: Who decides? Who benefits?, will be delivered by Martin Kelleher FCGDent, Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at King’s College Dental Hospital. Registration on the day opens at 2pm, with the lecture starting at 2.30pm and the event concluding at 4.30pm after Q&A/discussion.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE COLLEGE LECTURE

The Summer Reception will follow from 5pm to 8pm, with registration from 4.30pm. Incorporating the fourth annual College Fellows’ Summer Reception, this is an opportunity for dental professionals to network with their peers and will include the ceremonial admission of new Fellows and Associate Fellows, the presentation of the President’s Award and the announcement of the 2025 winner of the College Medal (tbc). There will be an opportunity for a range of alumni photos, and photos with other guests, all of which will be made available to attendees shortly afterwards to download free of charge.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE SUMMER RECEPTION

The FGDP(UK) Diploma in Restorative Dentistry brings automatic eligibility for Associate Fellowship of the College and also satisfies the Clinical Domain of Fellowship, and alumni are encouraged to join the College in order to support its historic mission to build a Royal College for dentistry.

Associate Fellows are senior members of the College who are recognised as Enhanced Practitioners on the College’s Career Pathway, and their professional standing is marked with the use of the postnominals ‘AssocFCGDent’. Eligible to attend the College’s biannual Fellows’ Receptions, they also receive quarterly print issues of the Primary Dental Journal, a 5% reduction in their dental indemnity fees with Dental Protection (8% for Fellows), and are eligible to enrol on a ‘top-up’ MSc in General Dental Practice which can be completed during a single year of part-time distance learning.

Anyone successfully completing an application to join the College as an Associate Fellow or Fellow (or to upgrade their existing membership to become an Associate Fellow or Fellow) before 30 April will have the opportunity to be ceremonially admitted at the Summer Reception and will be able to book their reception ticket at no charge. (It is advised to submit applications as soon as possible in order to allow enough time for admissions procedures to be completed.)

Alumni and tutors are encouraged to pass on information about the reunion to others who were involved in the programme.

To secure your place at current ‘Early Bird’ rates, click the button below:

BOOK YOUR PLACE

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College of General Dentistry News

Dentistry Show lectures

The College has confirmed its programme of CPD lectures for the British Dental Conference & Dentistry Show (BDCDS), which is taking place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 May 2025.

The College is an education partner for the Enhanced CPD Theatre, where it is hosting four lectures. Members and non-members alike will be welcome to the College’s sessions, in which experts in their fields will share their knowledge and give advice on a range of subjects supporting clinical dentistry and professionalism. Lectures include:

Friday 16 May:

Saturday 17 May:

Staff and senior members of the College are also looking forward to meeting members and prospective members at Stand Q01, and to answering any queries you may have about the College and membership.

BDCDS is the UK’s largest dental event, attracting 10,000 dental professionals with its offer of 11 CPD theatres, 200 CPD lectures and 400 exhibiting suppliers.

Attendance is free for all registered dental professionals – register now via the link below.

REGISTER HERE

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College of General Dentistry News

Dental leaders discuss professional development and career support

Senior College members took part in a recent meeting of dental leaders from across the UK to share learning on how best to support the careers and professional development of the future dental team.

College panellists, speakers and presenters at the Dental Leadership Network: (l-r) Roshni Karia, Manish Prasad, Ewen McColl and Catherine Rutland

Dr Roshni Karia MCGDent (President of the College) and Dr Manish Prasad FCGDent (Clinical Director at MyDentist and a CGDent Certified Membership Facilitator) both participated in a panel discussion on the question of ‘How do we align the needs of the sector with the expectations of new dental professionals?’.

Dr Karia, who was previously an early careers observer on the board of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) and more recently was a member of the College’s Career Pathways Programme Board, noted that new dental professionals are looking for support and guidance to enable them to have fulfilling careers offering flexibility, a sustainable work-life balance and opportunities for growth and recognition. She added that the College is in the process of developing structured pathways for all members of the dental team which will align these desires with the needs of the sector by recognising appropriate education, experience and skills acquisition at each career stage.

Professor Ewen McColl FCGDent (Chair of the Dental Schools Council, member of the College Council and Editor of the College’s Standards in Dentistry publication) gave a presentation on “How do we prepare BDS students for practice?” and took part in a panel discussion on “Ensuring development opportunities that meet the needs of  individual dental professionals“.

The sessions took place at the most recent ‘Dental Leadership Network’ day convened by the General Dental Council to facilitate shared ownership in addressing key challenges facing the profession.

Dr Catherine Rutland FCGDent (Clinical Director at Denplan) closed the event, and was also a facilitator of the final workshop session alongside Fiona Ellwood BEM (Executive Director of the Society of British Dental Nurses, Associate Member of the College and former Honorary Fellow of the FGDP).

Other attendees included Professor Avijit Banerjee FCGDent (Chair of the College’s Faculty of Dentists), Dr Debbie Reed FCGDent (Chair of the College’s Faculty of Dental Nursing & Orthodontic Therapy), Bill Sharpling FCGDent (Chair of the College’s Faculty of Clinical Dental Technology & Dental Technology), and College Council members Helen Kaney FCGDent and Miranda Steeples AssocFCGDent.

Held in London on 25 March on the theme of ‘Future dental team: their expectations, development and career’’, the event followed a previous meeting on workforce challenges involving Dr Abhi Pal FCGDent (then President of the College), Dr Debbie Reed FCGDent, Dr Catherine Tannahill MCGDent (Director of Clinician Engagement of Portman Dental) and Ashley Byrne FCGDent (Board Member of the Dental Laboratories Association). 

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College of General Dentistry News

Dental professionals invited to College Summer Reception

The College has issued an open invitation to all College members and other dental professionals to attend its 2025 Summer Reception.

The Summer Reception, incorporating the fourth annual College Fellows’ Summer Reception, will be an opportunity to network with your peers in the grand surroundings of the historic Cutlers’ Hall, and all dental professionals and those with professional interests in contemporary dentistry are invited to attend, with discounted tickets available to College members.

The event will include the ceremonial admission of new Fellows, and for the first time also Associate Fellows of the College. The President’s Award, typically given for charitable endeavours related to dentistry, will also be presented during the Reception, and this year’s winner of the prestigious College Medal is also expected to be announced. Photographs of the event will be made available to attendees shortly afterwards to download free of charge.

The College Summer Reception takes place from 5pm to 8pm on Friday 13 June in Sheffield, with registration open from 4.30pm.

It will be preceded from 2pm by the Inaugural College of General Dentistry Lecture, to be delivered by Martin Kelleher FCGDent, Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at King’s College Dental Hospital. Intended to stimulate and provoke healthy debate, this will challenge the notion of the ‘ideal treatment plan’ and contend that subconscious bias and possible self-interests can lead some supposed experts to confuse their version of a questionable ‘gold standard’ with what is really in a patient’s overall best interests and with what the law expects. This is also open to all dental professionals to attend, and CPD certificates will be provided.

Tickets are available for the reception only, lecture only, or combined lecture and reception. ‘Early Bird’ rates currently apply.

To secure your place, click the button below:

BOOK YOUR PLACE

For further information, visit the College’s events pages.

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College of General Dentistry News

Voting open for College Council elections

Voting is now open for seats on the College Council, and all eligible members are encouraged to cast their vote(s).

The Council is the voice of our members, overseeing our role as a professional body and guiding the development of the College to fulfil its mission. Six regional seats are being elected this year, with elected candidates due to serve from June 2025 – June 2028. A ballot of eligible members is required for three of these seats: National, Overseas and South Thames.

All Full Members, Associate Fellows and Fellows of the College are eligible to vote in the election to either the National or Overseas seats (depending on the address they have registered with the College), and those registered within the South Thames region (formerly South East and South West Thames) are eligible to vote both in that election and for the National seat.

College Council elections employ the Alternative Vote (AV) system, under which eligible members rank candidates in order of preference. A candidate receiving over 50 per cent of first preference votes is elected. Otherwise the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated and their second preference votes are reallocated to the remaining candidates until one candidate has more votes than the other remaining candidates put together.

All eligible members have been sent an email (on Wednesday 26 March 2025) by the College’s election services provider, Mi-Voice, to the email address which the member has registered with the College. This email confirms the election(s) for which the member is eligible to vote, and contains a unique link through which they can complete and submit their vote(s) online. The deadline to cast votes is Friday 2 May 2025.

Please ensure that your membership of CGDent is up to date before you vote, otherwise your vote might not count. The CGDent member register displays a list of all current members. Alternatively, you can contact us at [email protected] to confirm your membership status. If you do need to renew your membership, you can do this easily online here

New members joining during the voting period will also be eligible to vote, but should note that it will take around a week for their unique voting details to be issued to them, and late votes will not be counted.

The candidates are listed below; their election statements can be read via the email(s) from Mi Voice.

National seat

Overseas seat

South Thames

Following the election, the results will be announced in late May or early June.

If you are an eligible member but cannot find the email from Mi-Voice inviting you to vote in your inbox, please check your junk or spam folder, and if necessary double-check the email account you have registered with the College by logging in at https://cgdent.uk/my-account

If you experience any technical difficulties submitting your vote(s), please contact Mi-Voice at [email protected] or on 02380 763987.

REMINDERS: VOTES SHOULD BE CAST THROUGH THE UNIQUE LINK SENT TO ELIGIBLE MEMBERS BY MI-VOICE BY EMAIL; VOTING CLOSES ON FRIDAY 2 MAY 2025

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College of General Dentistry News

Roy Bennett appointed College Trustee

Dr Roy Bennett FCGDent, a Merseyside-based dentist with a special interest in the care of anxious patients, has been appointed as a Trustee of the College.

With over 35 years’ experience, including 15 years part-time in NHS hospital-based special care dentistry, Dr Bennett has undertaken thousands of sedation cases including intravenous, inhalation, oral, intranasal and hypnotherapy, and has accepted referrals and supported practices across the North West of England.

Director of Mellow Sedation Training Services, he is a highly experienced undergraduate and postgraduate teacher and is accredited as a course organiser by the Intercollegiate Advisory Committee on Sedation in Dentistry. He is a member and mentor of both the Dental Sedation Teacher Group and the Society for Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry, a past board member of the Association of Dental Anaesthetists and a Senior Clinical Adviser for UK Sedation.

He graduated from Liverpool Dental School in 1987, completed postgraduate training in conscious sedation and holds the Diploma of Membership of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP), a Diploma in Dental Science from the University of Liverpool and a Postgraduate Diploma in Forensic Odontology from the University of Hertfordshire. He is a Fellow of the College and of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Dr Bennett succeeds Dr Janet Clarke MBE FCGDent, former Deputy Chief Dental Officer for England, who served on the Board of Trustees from 2019 to 2024, including three years as Chair.

Trustees, who serve three-year terms of office, are accountable for the fulfilment of the College’s legal and regulatory duties as a charity, and for ensuring the proper running of the organisation.

The other members of the Board of Trustees are former FGDP Dean Dr Mick Horton FCGDent (Chair), former FGDP Vice Dean Onkar Dhanoya FCGDent, UCL Hygiene and Therapy Programme Deputy Director Marie Parker FCGDent, governance specialist Jane Clarke, experienced CFO Neil Sawbridge and solicitor Fred Thomson.

Dr Bennett is co-presenter of the College’s CPD webinar, Introduction to Remimazolam in Procedural Sedation in Dentistry, which is free for members to watch online.

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Martin Kelleher to deliver inaugural College Lecture

The College has announced that Martin Kelleher FCGDent will be delivering the inaugural College Lecture on 13 June 2025.

‘Satisficing’ standards in dentistry: Who decides? Who benefits? will challenge the notion of the ‘ideal treatment plan’ and contend that subconscious bias and possible self-interests can lead some supposed experts to confuse their version of a questionable ‘gold standard’ with what is really in a patient’s overall best interests and with what the law expects.

Intended to stimulate and provoke healthy debate, the lecture will build on the rich legacy of the Malcolm Pendlebury Lectures hosted by the College’s predecessor organisation, the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP).

Martin Kelleher has been a Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at King’s College Hospital, London since 1984 and has well- known interests in solving seemingly complex dental problems with various minimally destructive approaches. He is on the GDC specialist lists for Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics and owned his own practice in Bromley, Kent for nearly 40 years.

He is a Fellow of the Faculties of Dental Surgery at the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and England, as well as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He is also a Fellow of the College of General Dentistry, a Fellow and former President of the British Society for Restorative Dentistry, and a former Chairman of the Southern Counties Branch of the British Dental Association. 

Mr Kelleher graduated from University College Dublin in 1971, holds a Master’s degree in Conservative Dentistry and is the author or co-author of very numerous peer-reviewed articles on a wide variety of topics, as well as chapters in dental textbooks and a book on dental bleaching. He served on the board of Dental Protection for a decade, including three years as Chair of its Advisory Committee for Dental Claims. He is a renowned speaker, having lectured to many national dental associations and specialist societies as well as internationally for over 40 years.

The inaugural College of General Dentistry Lecture will take place in the historic Cutlers’ Hall in Sheffield, and will be followed by the College’s Summer Reception. CPD certificates will be provided.

All dental professionals, and others with professional interests in contemporary dental practice, are eligible to attend both events. Discounted places are available to College members.

To secure your place at current ‘Early Bird’ rates, click the button below:

BOOK YOUR PLACE

For further information, visit the College’s events pages.

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College of General Dentistry News

Candidates for election to the College Council 2025

Nominations recently closed for seats on the College Council and verification of candidates has now taken place.

 A ballot of eligible members is required for three of the seats being decided this year:

  • National
  • Overseas
  • South Thames

The candidates for these seats are as follows:

National seat

Overseas seat

South Thames

Eligible members will receive the candidates’ election statements, with instructions on how to vote, when voting opens on Wednesday 26 March 2025. These will be sent by the College’s election services provider, Mi-Voice, to the email address which the member has registered with the College. Members will then have until Friday 2 May 2025 to cast their vote(s).

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College of General Dentistry News

Recruitment of Board member (Faculty of Dental Technology and Clinical Dental Technology)

The College is seeking a new board member for its Faculty of Dental Technology and Clinical Dental Technology, and all dental technicians and clinical dental technicians are invited to apply.

The Faculty of Dental Technology and Clinical Dental Technology is a constituency of the College automatically comprising all members who are dental technicians or clinical dental technicians. Advising and reporting to the elected College Council, the Faculty Board advances the interests of these members within the College as a discrete professional group.

Faculty Board members are appointed for renewable three-year terms, and the appointee will be expected to attend at least three Faculty Board meetings per year from June 2025 – June 2028.

Candidates will need to be an Associate Member, Full Member, Associate Fellow or Fellow of the College at the time of application, and anyone interested in applying who is not yet a member of the College is advised to allow at least two weeks for their membership application to be fully processed prior to applying for this role.

The role is voluntary, with any essential expenses covered. A role profile is available below.

ROLE PROFILE

Applications should be made by email, headed “Board member (Faculty of Dental Technology and Clinical Dental Technology)”, to [email protected], attaching a CV and covering letter addressing the person specification. 

The closing date for applications is Sunday 4 May 2025.

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College of General Dentistry News

Recruitment of Board Chair (Faculty of Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy)

The College is seeking the next Chair of the Board of its Faculty of Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy, and all dental hygienists and dental therapists are invited to consider applying.

The Faculty of Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy is a constituency of the College automatically comprising all members who are dental hygienists or dental therapists. The interests of these members as a discrete professional group are advanced within the College by both a voting representative on the elected College Council and by a Faculty Board which advises and reports to Council.

Membership of the Faculty Board is appointed by Council, including the Chair, who works closely with the President and other Faculty Board Chairs in realising College priorities.

The Chair will be appointed for a non-renewable three-year term from June 2025 – June 2028, during which they will be expected to attend the three formal meetings of Council each year, and to coordinate at least three meetings of their Faculty Board annually with these dates. Council holds full day hybrid meetings, with attendance in person preferred.

Candidates will need to be an Associate Member, Full Member, Associate Fellow or Fellow of the College at the time of application, and anyone interested in applying who is not yet a member of the College is advised to allow at least two weeks for their membership application to be fully processed prior to applying for this role.

The role is voluntary, with essential expenses covered. A role profile is available below.

ROLE PROFILE

Applications should be made by email, headed “Board Chair (Faculty of Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy)”, to [email protected], attaching a CV and covering letter addressing the person specification.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 4 May 2025.

Interviews will be held online from the week beginning 12 May (tbc) with a selection panel convened by Council, and the appointee should be available to attend the College Council meeting on Friday 13 June 2025.

If you have questions or would like a confidential discussion about the role, please contact Simon Thornton-Wood PhD, Chief Executive of the College, at [email protected]

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