CGDent Updates the Standards ‘Bible’
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- Published: Monday, 01 September 2025 08:05
- Written by Peter Ingle
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The former Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (FGDP) first published Standards in Dentistry in 2006. Based upon the earlier ground breaking Self Assessment Manual and Standards, it set out to offer a consensus on what were reasonable standards to be expected in clinical practice. In the spirit of good, better, best, it defined both a baseline to be expected of clinicians, as well as aspirational standards that represented best practice.
The successor organisation to the FGDP, the College of General Dentistry (CGDent), has now published the third edition. This fully revised version incorporates new and updated guidelines and standards which are appropriate for the whole of the primary care dental team.
Dental professionals will want to know what has changed. The clinical standards tables are now presented as A: Aspirational, B: Basic and C: Conditional. Aspirational standards are described as gold-level and not essential. The Basic standard represents the minimum standard necessary to ensure patient safety, while the Conditional standards only apply in particular situations.
CGDent point out that the A,B,C clinical standards are process measures, not outcomes.
Those hoping to see a reduction in the volume of notes made at appointments, may want to take a deep breath before reading that: “Clinicians can use the aspirational standards to improve their practice whilst ensuring that basic standards are met. However, clinicians must assess each clinical situation, the circumstances and the evidence available to them, and use their clinical judgement to settle on the course of action which is in the patient’s best interests. It is recommended that clinicians explain the choices to the patient, the reasons for recommending the chosen course of action and then seek the patient’s consent before clearly justifying the reasoning and recording the consent in the patient’s records.”
There are new summary tables for Digital Dentistry and Aesthetic Dentistry, reflecting changes in dental care.
The basic standards for Aesthetic Dentistry highlight the importance of communications with patients, including discussion of risks and managing expectations. There is also clear emphasis on the responsibilities of dental care professionals to act within their scope of practice, competence and training.
The new 2025 edition of Standards in Dentistry covers all aspects of clinical care from diagnosis to treatment. It summarises over 100 standards, guidelines and advisory publications by 50 national and international bodies, and signposts to other relevant resources, organisations and legislation.
The CGDent statement about the new document was written by two members of the small team responsible for this latest version. Christopher Tredwin is Dean and Director of Queen Mary University of London Institute of Dentistry and Lorna Burns is an Information Specialist at Peninsula Dental School and lecturer in evidence-based healthcare at the University of Plymouth.
The document is now available to view (and for College members to download) online.
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