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Workforce insights

As part of an effort to deepen the understanding of the dental workforce, the General Dental Council (GDC) will be asking dental professionals to share a few details of their working patterns as part of their annual renewal.

Oral health and cost of living

Newly-released data from the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme’s Oral Health Index has shown that more women (48 per cent) believe there has been no improvement in accessing dental services since the pandemic compared to men (32 per cent).

Manchester smoking campaign

A hard-hitting quit smoking campaign has been launched on November 1, 2023, by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership.

Queuing in the rain

Over 500 people queued in “pouring rain” at a Scottish practice to register as NHS patients on October 21.

Devon stop smoking service

A stop smoking service in Devon has been launched, picking up the previous stop smoking support delivered by the OneSmallStep service, which has now ended.

Dental complaints rising

Complaints about NHS dental practices have risen by two-thirds, according to England’s Health Ombudsman. Access, treatment, and fees are common causes for concern.

Donation to cleft charity

Dentsply Sirona supported Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organisation, in its endeavour to set a world record for the largest online photo album of smiling mouths and made a $120,000 donation.

Mental wellbeing declining

More than half of dental professionals in the UK (57 per cent) who took part in a survey say their mental health is worse now than it was during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Retention survey

Results of the first comprehensive survey focused on dental nurse retention have been released.

Rising antisemitism

A survey of 293 Jewish healthcare practitioners was carried out by the Jewish Dental Association in collaboration with Alpha Omega. It found that 95 per cent of Jewish healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the UK have reported that the alarming rise in antisemitism since the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 has negatively affected their mental and emotional wellbeing.

Caries and obesity

Those who have had surgical obesity treatment (also known as bariatric surgery) have a higher risk of dental caries than before surgery. They also often experience a general decline in oral health. This has been shown by a thesis at the University of Gothenburg.

Women’s health inequalities

Measures to support women experiencing difficult menopause or menstrual health symptoms in the workplace are being introduced by NHS Scotland across their workforce.

Scotland increases fees

NHS dental professionals will receive increased fees under a new payment structure from November 1, 2023, to help them provide a comprehensive range of NHS care and treatment.

GDC's three year plan

Following a detailed and thorough review, the General Dental Council’s (GDC’s) priorities have been approved by their council for the next three years in line with the Corporate Strategy 2023-2025. In doing so, this has set the budget and Annual Retention Fee (ARF) for 2024.