Credit: Registration for all?

An umbrella organisation representing many of the technicians' associations has been set up to look at the issue of General Dental Council (GDC) registration. Organisations such as the Dental Technicians Association, the Dental Laboratories Association and the Clinical Dental Technicians Association are all members of the newly formed group.

The basis of the agreement was that the successful statutory registration of dental technicians with the GDC was of paramount importance and that all parties to this agreement would do all in their power to bring it about.

In addition the group agreed that all dental technicians with recognised qualifications as laid down by the GDC would be statutorily registered as dental technicians and that all unqualified persons working as dental technicians who met the conditions laid down by the GDC would be statutorily registered under the ‘grandparenting‘ clause as registered dental technicians. This is on the condition that they had worked seven years (or part time equivalent) in the past 10 years and were able to manufacture a range of dental appliances within a discipline from impression to finish.

All other personnel employed in the fabrication of dental appliances must be on a recognised course of instruction, leading to a registerable qualification in dental technology. This can be full or part time but must take not longer than seven years to complete and all students will be enrolled and the roll will be maintained by the DTA. The group also stated that the signatories to this agreement were prepared to work closely with the GDC in supporting and implementing this.