Training standards in implant dentistry for general dental practitioners. A report

In December 2005, the General Dental Council (GDC) convened a small working group to consider training standards for general dental practitioners (GDPs) who wish to practise implant dentistry. The membership of this group is given at the end of this report. The secretariat for the group was provided jointly by the GDC and the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK). The remit of the group (which was independent of any organisation) was to consider what training standards would be necessary for a GDP before practising implant dentistry, to publish those standards, and then periodically to review them in the light of developments in implant dentistry. Such standards can be used not only by practitioners but also by the GDC in the consideration of patient complaints against dental practitioners who, allegedly, practise implant dentistry beyond the limits of their competence.