Clinical governance: something new for general dental practice?

This article is intended to inform general dental practitioners about the background to clinical governance, how it came about and how the government has introduced it into the NHS. Because clinical governance is new in general dental practice, how it eventually becomes incorporated is still debatable, but this article attempts to describe ways in which practitioners can use it to their advantage. It explains how a cultural change is needed in dental practice to embrace these issues of quality and that issues of clinical governance have become a General Dental Service 'Terms of Service' requirement for all practitioners.