Survey of United Kingdom oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) specialists and trainees about the reasons that they retain or drop their registration with the General Dental Council (GDC) including a summary of changes in the numbers registered with the GDC 2014-2023

Abstract

When dual degree OMFS training was mandated in the UK in 1995, OMFS specialists were required to be registered with both the General Dental Council (GDC) and General Medical Council (GMC). In 2005 this legal requirement for dual registration with both regulators was removed. During 2021 the authors surveyed UK OMFS specialists and trainees asking them why they chose to remain on or leave the Dental Register to give context to the changing numbers of OMFS specialists and trainees holding Dental Registration between 2014 and 2023. In 2014 of 539 OMFS specialists and trainees only 62 (12%) were solely GMC registered, that is, they had let their Dental Registration lapse. In 2023, of 709 OMFS specialists and trainees, 320 (45%) were solely GMC registered. Those whose first qualification was medicine were less likely to be dually registered. Of those who replied to the survey and remained dually registered, most (40%) based this decision on ‘worries about the consequences’ of dropping their dental registration. Some other reasons were not based on fact at that time. Cost was the most common reason (49%) given for dropping their GDC registration by respondents who were only registered with the GMC. On the positive side, the January 2023 GDC position statement about OMFS who are not on the Dental Register removed the GDC’s previous restriction on location of practice and teaching dental students. However the statement does not unambiguously allow OMFS surgeons to practice across the full OMFS curriculum. Will the 2023 GDC position statement alter the trend of OMFS specialists and trainees towards single medical registration?