Sir, I have recently learnt that there are problems arising with dental nurses who wish to register with the GDC and who hold the pre-1994 'National Certificate'. Many have been shocked to learn that their qualification is no longer recognised.

The National Certificate Examination did not change in 1994. Training courses did not significantly change either. What did change was purely the title awarded after the examination. Many people felt that the title 'dental nurse' was more professional and commanded more respect than the title 'dental surgery assistant'.

For all practical purposes, the National Certificate for dental surgery assistants was identical in every respect to the renamed National Certificate for dental nurses.

The GDC website explains that this decision was based on whether or not the qualification was still being awarded. This crucial decision is likely to do a great disservice to the dental profession.

It would have been far more appropriate to accept both dental nurse qualifications, and to require anyone who did not register by the 31 July deadline, to undertake 'back to dental nurse' training commensurate with the number of years they have been absent from the profession.

Some things like dental anatomy, physiology, assisted operating (Ellis Paul is still running his famous course!) will have changed little. Other subjects such as cross infection control and endodontics will have changed much more in recent years. If a dental nurse leaves the profession for a career break for any reason, a modular 'back to dental nursing' course would ensure that they were competent to work again.

Because the decision has been taken to no longer accept the pre-1994 National Certificate qualification, we now have the unacceptable situation whereby an excellent dental nurse, with 25 years experience, who happened to take a recent career break for 18 months, cannot now easily return to the profession. On the other hand, a dental nurse who qualified in 1995, but has been absent from the profession for the past 13 critical years, could register without problem.

One dentist on the GDPUK forum has reported that a qualified dental nurse, who once worked for him and whom he hoped would return to work for him, has now found herself unable to register without resitting the National Certificate. She is so disillusioned that she is planning on pursuing an alternative career instead.

Given that the National Certificate examination for dental surgery assistants was absolutely identical to the National Certificate examination for dental nurses and that any difference was in title only, I believe that potential registrants, who are denied registration, are being discriminated against on grounds of age. They just happened to be born slightly too early and qualified a year or two too soon.

The profession needs qualified and registered dental nurses now more than ever before, especially in rural areas. We should be welcoming dental nurses back to the profession rather than treating them in this manner.