Sir, in his letter to the editor (BDJ 2005; 199: 249), G. D. Woods rightly highlights that trainees in OMFS are not acquiring the necessary skills in surgical dentistry required for inclusion on the GDC's specialist lists. I have just completed an audit of treatment referral patterns into our OMFS unit and unsurprisingly have demonstrated that 80% of our workload is in surgical dentistry referrals. Bearing this in mind, G. D. Woods' comments also raise clinical governance concerns for a future service that is supposed to be consultant led with those consultants lacking proficiency in this clinical field.

I have been involved in the OMFS 'Registrar in Training Assessment' (RITA) processes over the last number of years and I too have been concerned that OMFS units are failing to deliver appropriate training and clinical experience in surgical dentistry for their OMFS registrars. Not only should the GDC consider excluding future trainees in OMFS from the oral surgery/surgical dentistry specialist lists but the Department of Health needs to re-evaluate its manpower position and ensure that consultant oral surgeons/surgical dentists are introduced to guarantee that clinical services have the most appropriate consultant to lead them.