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What comes next?

- Click here to read part 6

It’s funny because as these blogs are released I’m doing two study clubs about the GDC case for the ITI in the UK that I’ve been asked to do over time.

It means that I’ll have talked about this at least four or five times in lectures this year and a huge part of that lecture is what we can do to change things.

At the most recent ITI study club to the Bristol group for Ceri Owen-Roberts, I talked a lot (on Zoom) with a group about how we have to modify our own behaviour as a profession before we can expect anyone else to modify there’s.

This is the same for any conflict and any conflict resolutions. 

You can only control your own behaviour and hope that the people or person that you are in conflict with will modify there’s.

You can wish as much as you would like for a change, but you can only ever exhibit change through example.

I think the profession has much work to do on it's image, on it’s behaviour overall and on what we tolerate from some sections of our colleagues.

I think we have to decide as soon as possible whether we would like to be allied health professionals (effectively a sub-specialty of medicine) or whether we would like to work in the cosmetic and beauty therapy industry.

For my part I’m completely cemented in the former camp and would probably rather give up my work than change to the latter.

If we can return or try to return to some sense of real professionalism and patient advocacy then it will be very difficult for either the regulator or any other body to continue to be overbearing and heavy touch.

Perhaps the most important thing though that can be done to change the system further is to use 2021 as a time to lobby and convince the powers that be to let us have a dental professional at the head of a regulatory body.

By dental profession in this sense I do mean a dentist because while there are some incredible DCP’s in our profession and not least in my own practice, it requires a dentist that understands the dynamic of dentistry at the highest level and they can also understand the dynamics of dentistry at the DCP level.

It would be possible to appoint someone non-dental to this role who could be brilliant but we simply don’t have the time to spare to see if they are ok and it certainly seems like this position at the head of the General Dental Council is ‘dead man’s shoes’.

I don’t think dentistry can handle another 7 or 8 years of toxic relationship with it’s regulator.

For my part I will continue to try to support colleagues who have difficulty with regulatory processes and continue to try to talk about what I think are the ways for change.

I’m not best suited to mainstream politics due to my big mouth and habit to use choice language and so perhaps because of my character I’ll have to leave that to other people.

I will try to support and make change in my own way and I do feel that if all of us made a little bit of time to do that, the profession and therefore society as a whole would be a lot better.

The eBook that we produced about my first GDC case is here if you want to delve further in this and if you need anything else just contact us and we’d be happy to help as best we can.

Blog Post Number - 2562