Community of practice and Royal Assent

The College of General Dentistry (CGDent) is now part of the dental firmament, setting standards, supporting careers, the unified voice of the dental team. A tremendous amount has been achieved since the College was established on 1st July 2021. Among other attributes, the College now has an open access, ever-expanding member register, with opportunity to include postgraduate qualifications and message other members, career pathways for all member of the dental team, and faculties for the different categories of oral healthcare professionals.

The setting of standards and supporting of careers is intrinsically linked and woven through all workstreams at CGDent. It is crucial that standards in dentistry reflect the real world challenges the dental team face in optimising care for our patients. To this end a current CGDent workstream is updating the CGDent publication ‘Standards in Dentistry’. The third edition will see all sections updated to reflect advances in practice, with new sections on digital dentistry and aesthetic dentistry included, topic matter regularly discussed in Dental Update, including this issue. The updates of ‘Standards in Dentistry’ have gone to all Fellows of the College for consultation to ensure the standards are set by the team, for the team. This consultation will help to ensure standards are relevant and realistic, in line with contemporary practice. Following in the wake of the recently launched register for mentors in implant dentistry, more initiatives, including a register for dento-legal expert witnesses are close to being launched, as part of the seamless transition of the presidency of the College from Dr Abhi Pal to Dr Roshni Karia. CGDent, which is unique (no other collegiate body across the world offering membership to all oral healthcare professionals, the whole dental team), will continue to have an ambitious agenda in the interests of the profession and the patients it serves, with eligibility for the award of a Royal Charter remaining a top priority, albeit that this eligibility may be another 2–3-years away. Such recognition will be hard won, but a resounding triumph for the profession and our patients.