UK General Dental Council Asks 'Who Is Responsible For Dental Appliances Made Outside The European Union?'

Main Category: Medical Devices
Also Included In: Dentistry
Article Date: 02 Jun 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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What responsibilities do registrants have when making dental appliances? Who is accountable for dental appliances made outside the European Union? These are just a couple of the questions that are asked in the new draft standards from the GDC on commissioning and manufacturing dental appliances.

The GDC is consulting on the draft standards to ensure that all dentists, dental technicians and clinical dental technicians understand and are responsible for the decisions they make when commissioning or manufacturing dental appliances.

The draft standards recognise that all GDC registrants involved in prescribing, manufacturing and fitting dental appliances have a role to play in protecting patients from harm and in providing a safe and effective standard of care. These standards set out the responsibilities of:

- registrants who arrange for dental appliances to be made in the UK by a registered dental technician;

- dentists and clinical dental technician registrants who prescribe a dental appliance to be made outside the UK; and

- dental technician registrants who sub-contract the manufacture of a dental appliance to a laboratory outside the UK.

We are keen to hear people's views, in particular:

- Do you agree that these standards fill a gap in patient protection?

- Do you think that the standards cover every area required to ensure patient protection?

- Are there any practicalities regarding the implementation of the standards that you feel the GDC should consider prior to implementing them?

The draft standards are available on the GDC website, http://www.gdc-uk.org. The closing date for comments is Friday 15 August 2008.

Notes:

1. The 'Standards on commissioning and manufacturing dental appliances' consultation document is available on the GDC website here.

Source:
Jodie Ward
General Dental Council