Dental implantology education: a survey of opinion and experience of 106 general dental practitioners

In the United Kingdom the National Health Service only provides dental implant treatment to patients who fulfil stringent clinical criteria outlined by the Royal College of Surgeons. Such treatment is normally in a hospital setting. The majority of dental implant work is otherwise carried out in the private sector. Concern about the quality of implant dentistry and training led the General Dental Council to convene a working group that set out to set training standards in implant dentistry for general dental practitioners (GDPs). The Faculty of General Dental Practitioners published this guidance in March 2006. This questionnaire based study set out to examine GDP attitudes to implant treatment and training and aims to contribute to the debate and review of appropriate training in dental implantology for GDPs.