Boosting numbers

Sir, recently, there has been concern raised in the media about the lack of NHS dentists available in the UK especially outside London.

One of the solutions to this urgent problem would be to make it easier for foreign-trained dentists to achieve their practice license without compromising clinical excellence.

A major drawback in this process is the IELTS Exam which is set at a standard higher than our medical colleagues sitting the Plab exams. Considering that most of the dentists sitting this exam have been trained in English from a very elementary age, they should not have to keep re-writing the IELTS exam because they have scored the same as their medical colleagues.

While we are not advocating a lowering of the standards, we would be grateful if the GDC would look into this in order to help boost the number of dentists in the UK.