The General Dental Council (GDC) has given in to pressure from the profession and decided it will no longer include full addresses on its public register of dentists and dental care professionals. The registration number would be used as the primary method of identification and to confirm professional status. The BDA is pleased that the GDC has today agreed to end its policy of publishing registrants’ addresses online.

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Over half of all patients who visited their GP with a dental problem in the last 10 years were not offered a long-term treatment for their pain and were instead prescribed antibiotics, often unnecessarily, new research has found.   The study found many patients are visiting their GP rather than their dentist, and that over half of these consultations resulted in antibiotic prescribing, which is likely to be unhelpful, and potentially harmful.

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Read more: Too many GPs prescribing unnecessary antibiotics for toothache

With the time of the year approaching when NHS practice owning dentists must complete the pension annual reconciliation return (ARR), Alan Suggett, Dental Business Unit Partner from UNW accountants and regular on GDPUK warns that many, perhaps most, practice owners are calculating their associate’s pay incorrectly, and too low.  The problem is, Alan says, that many principals think they understand how the calculation works – but in fact they don’t.

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The British Orthodontic Society is warning against websites offering DIY orthodontic treatment because of the risk they pose. A statement has been posted on the BOS websitewhich strongly advises against any treatment which bypasses a consultation with an orthodontist or dentist. Richard George, BOS Director of External Relations, said the Society is very concerned that people who don’t see a clinician for diagnosis and treatment planning might suffer damage to their teeth.

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The British Dental Association (BDA) has issued an open letter to General Dental Council chair Bill Moyes, in response to his recent comment piece: A new era of dental regulation. Mick Armstrong, Chair of the BDA said: “This profession wants nothing more than an effective and efficient regulator, but that journey will only begin when the GDC can show it is capable of confronting some hard truths. Sadly this recent article revealed its leadership is unwilling to even start down that road.”

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Read more: BDA attacks GDC Chair