Reactions to GDC’s Fitness to Practice revisions

  Posted by: Dental Design      11th November 2024

The dental world has been reacting to last week’s news that the General Dental Council (GDC) has revised its fitness to practise processes to improve proportionality and timeliness in investigating clinical practice concerns.

Raj Rattan, Dental Director at Dental Protection, said: “We welcome the GDC’s revisions to the fitness to practise processes when investigating clinical practice concerns which follows the successful pilot of revised processes for handling fitness to practise concerns involving dental professionals with no previous allegations of impaired fitness to practise in the previous 12 months.

“These changes will enable the regulator to focus more on the most serious allegations and process them faster. In a 2023 Dental Protection survey of 125 dental professionals who have been investigated by the dental regulator, 82% said the process had a detrimental impact on their mental health, with the length of the investigation being one of the factors that impacted them the most.”

John Makin, head of the DDU, said: “The enormous strain placed on the health and wellbeing of dental professionals and their families undergoing investigations is well documented. So we welcome the introduction of the initial inquiries process after the successful completion of the pilot. Anything that reduces the time taken to carry out and conclude an investigation is a welcome development and will help to reduce delays and improve the proportionality of investigations.

“We are also pleased to see that the GDC plans to pilot the same approach to cases that include minor conduct concerns. These improvements in the process are welcome, but do not alter our long-held view about unnecessary delays in the fitness to practise process.”

British Orthodontic Society (BOS) statement:

“In light of the completion of a recent GDC fitness to practice case, we would like to clarify our position on the issue of claims that may be made about orthodontics. As a professional society and charity, the BOS promotes the highest quality of patient care through the advancement of scientific research and education. The BOS’s first duty of care is to patients.

“The BOS advocates that you proceed with caution and seek alternative advice, if you are told that a recommended orthodontic treatment or approach will do any of the following:

• Cause your child’s cheekbones to rise or their jaws to change significantly in position – such changes may occur naturally as part of a child’s development but the BOS is not aware of this being achieved as part of orthodontic treatment
• Cure or cause jaw joint problems – there is no evidence for this
• Improve speech – there is no evidence for this
• Improve breathing disorders – there is no evidence for this
• Improve your child’s intelligence –there is no evidence those patients with crooked teeth or sleep apnoea are less intelligent than others.

“There is no scientific evidence to suggest patients can change the shape of their face or improve their intelligence by chewing or holding teeth and the tongue in a closed position or indeed making any kind of facial movements.

“The BOS funds research into orthodontics and is always willing to consider alternative views provided these are backed by scientific evidence. The Society welcomes independent thinkers and innovation in orthodontics but all views must be supported by clinical evidence of the highest quality. If ever in doubt, patients should seek a second opinion.”