The dental sector has responded to news that the GDC has updated its fitness to practise processes with the stated aim of making investigations into clinical practice issues ‘more efficient and proportionate’.
Raj Rattan, Dental Director at Dental Protection said: “We welcome the GDC’s revisions to the fitness to practise framework for managing concerns regarding clinical practice. These changes follow the successful piloting of new procedures for cases involving dental professionals without any previous allegations of impaired fitness to practise over the past year. These changes will allow the GDC to prioritize the most serious cases and process them quicker. In a 2023 survey by Dental Protection of 125 dental professionals who had been investigated, 82% said this had had a detrimental effect on their mental health, with the length of the process being one of the key factors.”.
John Makin, head of the DDU, said: “The fact that investigations have a significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of dental professionals being investigated and their families is well documented.
We welcome the roll-out of the initial inquiries process, on the back of the success of the pilot. Anything that helps cut the timescales of investigations is to be welcomed as a positive move toward eradicating delay and achieving better balance.
We also welcome the fact that the GDC has decided to test similar approaches in cases involving minor conduct issues. While these are positive changes, they do not alter our longstanding concerns about unnecessary delays in the fitness to practise process.”
Statement from the British Orthodontic Society (BOS):
In the wake of a recent GDC case regarding fitness to practise, the BOS has issued clarification on its stance as regards claims made with respect to orthodontic treatments. The interest of patients is of paramount importance to the BOS, being a professional organization dedicated to patient care by scientific research and education.
The BOS advises that patients should be treated with caution if they are led to believe an orthodontic treatment will be able to:
Significantly change the cheekbone or jaw position-only this would occur in natural growth.
Cure or cause problems in the jaw joint – there is no evidence this is the case.
Cure speech or breathing problems – evidence does not support this.
Improve intelligence-there is no correlation between dental conditions like crowding or sleep apnoea and brain function.
It considers that there is scant scientific evidence for the belief that such facial musculature exercises or the placing of teeth and tongue in a certain way would have an effect upon face form or intelligence. The BOS has supported orthodontic research and always stands ready to alter its policy in the light of new ideas, providing these are founded upon sound scientific principles. Those patients who do not believe this are referred elsewhere.