A new resource has been developed to help support non-UK, European Economic Area (EEA) qualified dental practitioners practising in the UK. It has been designed to provide an overview of the 19 EEA member states, which have supplied 97% of the EEA dentists currently registered by the General Dental Council (GDC), to improve knowledge and understanding of the professional background of dentists who have obtained their primary dental qualification from a non-UK, EEA member state.

On 31 December 2010, of the 38,377 dentists registered with the GDC, some 10,768 had qualified outside the UK. Of these, more than 6,300 were EEA dentists with non-UK qualifications.

The primary aim of the new resource is to provide information for primary care organisations, deaneries and other organisations about the regulatory mechanisms, education and training, support systems, dental team and skill mix, delivery of oral healthcare, quality assurance mechanisms and culture within the 19 EEA member states.

The resource is available at: http://www.oxforddeanery.nhs.uk/dental_school/eea_dentists_information.aspx.