The Wales Dental Deanery saw a range of ground breaking initiatives come to fruition in 2010. The first cohort of dental nurses graduated from the Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) in Dental Nursing and in August 2010 a new Dental Foundation Training Scheme was launched for dental graduates.

The scheme consists of two days working in a general dental practice environment in the new Dental Teaching Unit in Porth, two days in the Dental Hospital in Cardiff and one educational study day. The Dental Teaching Unit was opened in September 2009 and is the first of its kind in Wales, boasting cutting edge technology imported from the US, eight fully equipped dental surgeries and versatile working stations which allow the dentist to work ambidextrously with their equipment. The Unit also has a 120-seat conference centre with a video link to one of the surgeries, in addition to a specialised dental training room with 18 phantom heads.

The facilities for training dental foundation trainees, promoted by the Dental Postgraduate Section of PGMDE (Wales) in partnership with Local Health Boards and Welsh Assembly Government, are unique across the UK and put Wales at the forefront of training young dentists and providing dental care in areas where there is a defined need.