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This study investigates the attributes of a ‘good dentist’ with respect to the opinions of dental patients, dental students and qualified dentists and determines whether the dental profession and its patients are in agreement with the standards published by the General Dental Council (GDC) in 2005. A questionnaire was circulated amongst the above groups at the University Of Birmingham, School of Dentistry. Each participant was asked to rank 14 attributes for a dentist in order of their importance. The results indicated that generally there was no consensus between individual participants. There was, however, significant overlap between the top six attributes chosen by dental care professionals and the GDC standards. Patients tended to rank other non-GDC mentioned attributes more frequently. Attributes which were considered important by all were ‘putting patient interests first and acting to protect them, respecting a patient's dignity and choices and having good technical ability.’
Clinical Relevance: It is important to gain an insight into patient attitudes and to be knowledgeable of the GDC professional standards, in order to improve overall conduct and performance as a dental practitioner.
Article
The General Dental Council was established in 1956 and, since then, has played a fundamental role in training and regulating the dental care profession. It provides a framework for teaching the undergraduate students in dental schools and regulates dentists during their careers. In 2005, the GDC published six ‘Standards for dental professionals’.1 These were designed to underpin daily decisions made by licensed dental surgeons to ensure that they upheld their code of professionalism. Every registrant must endeavour to follow these standards, which are:
Each standard is defined by principles, 28 in total, which should be applied at all times to adhere to current best practice guidelines. Although few data have been published around the credibility of these standards, some research has been conducted around the desirable traits of a dentist. In 2011, the GDC commissioned a patient and registrant survey which analysed the attributes that are thought to encourage trust and confidence in dental care professionals. Attributes prioritized by patients alone were:
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