The Faculty has stated aims of improving standards of patient care and to promote excellence in dentistry. The Faculty does this by developing and publishing standards and guidance for primary care dentistry. The FGDP also provides the continuing professional development and training needs of both dentists and dental care professionals working in primary care.
Education
The Faculty is involved in many educational aspects of dental care in general practice and primary dental care. It runs a programme of training courses and continuous professional development for the whole dental team. The Faculty awards a number of post graduate qualifications:
The Primary Dental Journal is the journal of the Faculty of General Dental Practice. The Journal was launched on 4 October 2012, and replaced the previous publications 'Primary Dental Care', 'Team in Practice' and 'First-Hand' Each quarterly issue focuses on a key topic in primary care dentistry combining research, clinical best practice papers and scenario articles. Many standards in dentistry are set by the Faculty. Based on these standards, the FGDP publishes a range of standards books and guidance for UK dentistry. These publications are:
‘Standards in Dentistry’ is a collection of standards and guidelines for primary dental care.
‘Selection Criteria for Dental Radiography’ is the guideline publication on indications for radiographic investigation, covering treatment planning and monitoring, ionising radiation regulations and best practice.
‘Dementia-Friendly Dentistry’ enables dental professionals to understand dementia and its implications for dental practice, and adapt their patient management and clinical decisions accordingly.
‘Clinical Examination and Record-Keeping’ is a reference guide to record-keeping and examination, including history-taking, consent, confidentiality, data protection and more.
‘Antimicrobial Prescribing for General Dental Practitioners’ provides practical guidance on when to prescribe antimicrobials, what to prescribe, for how long and at what dosage.
‘Training Standards in Implant Dentistry’ summarises the training that should be undertaken to carry out implant dentistry safely, and the standards which should be met by training courses.
‘Key Skills in Primary Dental Care’ is an e-learning package providing guidance to the whole dental team, with a certificate of 7 hours of verifiable CPD upon completion.
‘An introduction to Research for Primary Dental Care’ This publication introduces the principles of research methodology, discusses the relevance of research to primary dental care, and provides an overview of the different stages in a research project.
The Faculty of General Dental Practice confers a range of awards and honours. These are conferred to individuals and in some instances organisations, that have made an impact on general dental practice and the dental profession.
