College of General Dentistry News

College endorses menopause policy for dental employers

The College has endorsed the menopause policy and advice recently published by the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN).

In the UK, 99% of dental nurses, 96% of orthodontic therapists, 94% of dental hygienists,  92% of dental therapists, 52% of dentists and 27% of dental technicians are female – 78% of the regulated dental profession as a whole – and the policy outlines the challenges faced by menopausal women in the workplace and suggests ways in which employers can support menopausal employees. 

The Association is asking dental practices, laboratories and clinics to adopt the policy and implement it in their workplace, and is asking dental organisations to support it by encouraging its widespread adoption.

The College of General Dentistry, membership of which is open to all dental and oral health professionals, is the first organisation representing dentists to do so. The College is the independent professional body into which the Faculty of General Dental Practice transferred last year, and is the UK’s only medical college run by and for oral health professionals.

Abhi Pal, President of the College of General Dentistry, said:

“The BADN’s Menopause Policy is important, practical and succinct advice which helps dental professionals to better understand the menopause, to appreciate relevant employment law, and to implement a menopause policy in their practice.

Making appropriate adjustments for staff affected by the menopause is both a moral duty enabling committed and experienced colleagues to remain in valuable employment, and a legal duty not to discriminate on the grounds of gender, age or disability. Supportive dental practices and understanding employers will also find they benefit in return from improved staff retention and reduced sickness absence.

On behalf of the College, I congratulate the BADN on its publication, and am pleased to endorse it.”

The policy is also supported by the British Society of Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT), the British Association of Dental Therapists (BADT), the British Dental Industry Association (BDIA), the Dental Laboratories Association (DLA), the Dental Technologists’ Association (DTA), the Orthodontic National Group (ONG), and the British Veterinary Nurses’ Association (BVNA).

The publication is available on the BADN website here. 

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College of General Dentistry News

President discusses dental careers at No.10

On 29 March 2022, College President Dr Abhi Pal visited No.10 Downing Street to attend a roundtable breakfast meeting on access to careers and progression in dentistry hosted by the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on healthcare policy.

Dr Pal commented:

“It is great to see recognition at the top of government that widening access to dental training, followed by career progression based on merit and not hindered by inequalities, are vital in order to recruit and retain a workforce reflective of the population it serves and able to meet the UK’s oral health needs.

“For its part, the College of General Dentistry is committed to breaking down unnecessarily prescriptive and exclusionary professional barriers, and is developing a Professional Framework with accompanying Career Pathways that will offer all general dental professionals staged recognition of their knowledge and skills, and a range of routes to planning a fulfilling career in dentistry.”

The College will shortly be hosting a related live webinar:

Social inequalities when applying to study dentistry
Monday 4 July 2022, 7pm
This will discuss social inequalities and how they may affect students when applying to study dentistry. It will be free to view for all dental professionals on the day, and the recording will be available thereafter to CGDent members. Approx. 1.5 CPD hours. CPD e-certificates are free for CGDent members. REGISTER HERE

Related webinar recordings already available to College members in the CPD library include:

Why colour is the elephant in the room
A first-hand exploration of racial inequality and prejudice, with real life experiences from colleagues working in all areas of dentistry, and highlighting ways in which we can tackle inequalities and systemic racism. “This webinar was so, so important and impactful”
Approx. 2 hours’ CPD.

How to get the best from your career in dentistry
This webinar looks at career and development planning no matter your career stage, and for the whole dental team, exploring next steps and what courses and opportunities are available. It also provides information on CGDent’s development of Career Pathways to give your dental career a boost. 2 hours 15 minutes’ CPD.



College of General Dentistry News

CGDent and BADN call for deferral of mandatory vaccination as survey suggests a quarter of dental nurses are not fully vaccinated 

The College of General Dentistry and British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN) are warning of a potential catastrophe for dental patients if the planned implementation of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all patient-facing staff in England is not deferred. 

Regulations came into effect earlier this month that will make it unlawful from 1 April 2022 for a CQC-regulated employer to deploy staff who are not fully vaccinated to work face-to-face with patients. The rules, which will apply to NHS and private providers alike, will effectively force dental practices to dismiss staff who have not received their first dose of an approved coronavirus vaccine by 3 February, and second dose by 31 March, unless they are clinically exempt, under 18, taking part in a COVID vaccine trial or can be redeployed into a non-patient-facing role. 

Both the College and BADN are unequivocal in their encouragement of dental professionals to take up the offer of coronavirus vaccination. However, interim results from the BADN COVID Vaccination Survey, based on the responses of over 1,000 practising dental nurses to date, show that 26% have not yet received two vaccination doses, and 24% will not have been double-vaccinated by the deadline.  

Responses to date are similar for both members and non-members of the association. If the findings are representative of the dental nursing profession as a whole – which makes up half the dental workforce – this would suggest an impending reduction in available dental staff in England of up to 12,000, or 12%, plus any dentists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, clinical dental technicians or orthodontic therapists who may not be double-vaccinated.  

The survey also found that 32% of respondents so far said they do not intend to take up the offer of a ‘booster’ dose, suggesting that staffing problems will only increase if the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ is later amended to require three doses.  

Dr Abhi Pal, President of the College of General Dentistry, and Jacqui Elsden, President of the British Association of Dental Nurses and an Associate Member of the College, said: 

“Dental nurses are a vital part of the team without whom dental care cannot be delivered, and the BADN’s data will only strengthen existing concerns in practices across the country.  

“Tens of millions of dental appointments have been missed during the pandemic, but while welcome additional funding has just been announced by NHS England to help tackle the backlog during February and March, losing up to a quarter of dental nurses from 1 April would lead to a precipitous reduction in care provision, quickly reversing any progress made and leaving millions of dental patients once again unable to get the treatment they need. We urge the government to defer implementation of the vaccination requirement for dental employers in order to avert a calamitous own goal.” 

Tonight at 7pm, a week ahead of the deadline to take up the first vaccination dose, the College is hosting Vaccination: your questions answered.  

Free for all dental professionals to watch live, speakers include Professor Jason Leitch, (Senior Clinical Advisor to the Scottish Government, CGDent Ambassador and regular explainer of all matters COVID in the broadcast media), and Sarah Buxton (HR and Employment Solicitor and legal advisor to the Association of Dental Administrators and Managers and the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy). Register here 

The full results of the BADN COVID Vaccination Survey will be announced in due course. The survey remains open and can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VaccinationsSurvey

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College of General Dentistry News

College response to NHS England announcement of additional dentistry funding

Commenting on the announcement that an additional £50m of funding will be provided for NHS dentistry in England over the next ten weeks, Dr Abhi Pal, President of the College of General Dentistry, said: 

“New funding for dentistry is to be welcomed, and today’s announcement will provide short-term help to a significant number of people who have struggled to get their oral health needs met during the pandemic, especially children and patients with autism, learning difficulties and severe mental illness.  

“However, it is important that longer term underfunding and recruitment problems are also addressed, and the NHS dental contract reformed, as even before the pandemic only half of adults in England were able to access NHS dental care. The College will also be supporting workforce retention through its Career Pathways programme.” 

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College of General Dentistry News

Dental and medical organisations join forces to say “Antibiotics do not cure toothache!”

National dental and medical organisations have come together again to support the World Health Organisation’s Antimicrobial Awareness Week, which runs from 18-24 November.

The Association of Clinical Oral Microbiologists and College of General Dentistry, supported by the Association of Dental Hospitals, British Dental Association, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, British Association of Oral Surgery, British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, British & Irish Society for Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, are reminding patients that “antibiotics do not cure toothache”, and encouraging the dental team to adhere to best practice and only prescribe antibiotics as an adjunct to definitive clinical management of the cause when indicated according to national guidelines.1-2

Prudent prescribing of antimicrobials can slow down the development of antimicrobial resistance, and all healthcare prescribers play a vital role. The dental profession has shown its commitment to addressing antimicrobial resistance by significantly reducing the use of antibiotics over the last decade, both in dental practice and a hospital setting. Dental hospitals in the UK and Ireland reduced antibiotic prescriptions by 22% and 30% for therapeutic and prophylactic indications respectively between 2018 and 2020 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic).

It has been reported that COVID-19 had a negative effect on the profession’s endeavours in improving antibiotic prescribing patterns. The organisations therefore encourage dental teams in both general practice and hospital settings to re-start auditing3 their practice of antibiotic prescribing against the recently updated national guidelines1-2, as this will help to reduce the use of antimicrobials and improve patient outcomes.

The successful management of acute dental infections requires accurate diagnosis and definitive treatment, and patients who have prompt access to emergency dental services have a much-reduced risk of developing life-threatening sepsis. Dental teams are encouraged to use the following resources to update their knowledge on the latest national recommendations on the use of antimicrobial agents in dentistry, and to audit their practice:

  1. Guidelines for antimicrobial prescribing in dentistry are available at https://cgdent.uk/standards-guidance/ and https://bnf.nice.org.uk
  2. Guidance for antimicrobials in dentistry in Scotland are available at  https://www.sdcep.org.uk/published-guidance/drug-prescribing/ and  https://www.sapg.scot/media/5473/statement-on-pen-v-in-dental-infections.pdf
  3. Antimicrobial prescribing audit tools are available at https://cgdent.uk/standards-guidance/ and https://heiw.nhs.wales/education-and-training/dental/quality-improvement/national-audit-projects/antimicrobial-prescribing/
  4. Other resources, including the Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit, are available via https://cgdent.uk/standards-guidance/ and https://bda.org/amr

In a recent blog for the College of General Dentistry, Dr Wendy Thompson, the College’s lead on Antimicrobial Resistance, says it’s time to reduce antibiotic prescribing in dentistry to pre-pandemic levels.

Wendy is also the guest speaker on our upcoming ‘Talking Standards’ webinar on Thursday 25 November, which will be looking at Antimicrobial Prescribing in Dentistry: Good Practice Guidelines. The event will be free to view live for all members of the dental professions, and CGDent members and ProDentalCPD subscribers can claim CPD hours for free and have access to the recording after the event. REGISTER HERE.

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College of General Dentistry News

Help get people talking about sugar reduction

The College of General Dentistry is proud to be supporting Sugar Awareness Week, which aims to raise public awareness of the poor health outcomes associated with excess sugar consumption, get people talking about the importance of sugar reduction, and to encourage citizens, industry and government to support healthier food and drink.

The annual campaign is organised by Action on Sugar, a charity based at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London, which works to promote a consensus for action to be taken to counter the harmful effects of a high sugar diet. Our support continues that previously given by the Faculty of General Dental Practice, and the two organisations were among those who successfully campaigned for a ‘sugar tax’ on soft drinks, which since its introduction in 2016 has seen a 29% reduction in the sugar content of drinks subject to the tax and a shift in purchasing towards lower sugar alternatives.

This year’s Sugar Awareness Week focusses on the high sugar content frequently seen in snack foods marketed as healthy, and also calls for the removal of misleading sugar claims on sweet baby and toddler snacks such as biscuits and rusks. We would encourage dental practices to display this year’s poster in their waiting area, to download and use the tailored images on their social media accounts, and to join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtags #SugarAwarenessWeek and #SnackingOnSugar.

The College’s work to support a reduction in sugar consumption is led by Dr Roshni Karia MCGDent, an associate dentist working in general dental practice in Surrey, and Vice President of the College, who represents CGDent on Public Health England’s Children’s Oral Health Improvement Programme Board. As a dental organisation, the College works with Action on Sugar to highlight the association between sugar consumption and poor oral health, and in supporting Sugar Awareness Week, Roshni commented:

“In the UK we consume three times the recommended maximum amount of sugar. Tooth decay is almost wholly preventable, but affects a quarter of 5-year-olds and a third of 12-year-olds, and tooth extraction is the number one reason young children are admitted to hospital. Reducing sugar intake lowers our risk not only of tooth decay, but of a wide range of illnesses including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke – and indirectly some cancers. Through education and regulatory action, consumers of all ages need to be empowered to make the healthy choices the easier ones.”

The Sugar Awareness Week 2021 resources can be downloaded below:

Sugar Awareness Week 2021 Poster

Sugar Awareness Week 2021 Instagram image

Sugar Awareness Week 2021 Twitter image

Other posters, factsheets and educational materials from Action on Sugar are available at http://www.actiononsugar.org/sugar-awareness-week/sugar-awareness-week-2021/resources/

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College of General Dentistry News

CGDent & FGDP join call for mental health leads in every dental workplace

The College of General Dentistry and The Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) are supporting a new initiative encouraging all dental workplaces to appoint mental health leads.

They are among over 20 organisations endorsing the Mental Health Wellness in Dentistry Framework and Call to Action, which have been established to encourage dental employers to make ‘mental health wellness’ a priority.

Continue reading “CGDent & FGDP join call for mental health leads in every dental workplace” →
College of General Dentistry News

Safety, not activity targets, must be the priority

The College of General Dentistry (CGDent), Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP), and the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England have issued a joint message that safety must take clear priority over dental activity levels during the latest national coronavirus lockdown. 

The leading dental organisations have also highlighted the continued applicability of their guidance, and reiterated the need to consider the prevalence of COVID-19, and local rates of infection, when carrying out risk assessments.

Continue reading “Safety, not activity targets, must be the priority” →