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| The following professions fall under The Exceptions Order in The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions order) 1975. Schedule 1, Articles 2(3), 3 and 4. |
Excepted professions, offices, employments, work and occupations:
• Dentist
• Dental Hygienist
• Dental Auxilliary |
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Common registered dental surgeon titles
BDS - Bachelor of Dental Surgery
LDS - Licentiate in Dental Surgery
MFGDP(UK) - Membership of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK)
DPDS - Diploma in Postgraduate Dental Studies
DDH - Diploma in Dental Health
DRD - Diploma in Restorative Dentistry
MDS - Master of Dental Surgery
DDS - Doctor of Dental Surgery
FDS - Fellow in Dental Surgery
MGDS - Membership in General Dental Surgery
FGDP(UK) - Fellowship in General Dental Practice (UK)
MOrth - Membership in Orthodontics
DOrth - Diploma in Orthodontics
MRD - Membership in Restorative Dentistry
BChD - Bachelor of Dental Surgery
MCCD - Membership in Clinical Community Dentistry
MDentSc - Master of Dental Science
MDO - Membership in Dental Orthopaedics
The above list is not exhaustive but represents the registerable qualifications most commonly found in the UK. For a full list the reader should refer to the General Dental Council's 'Dental Register'. If the abbreviations RCS appear after a qualification this denotes that the qualification was awarded by one of the Royal College of Surgeons, either Edinburgh (Edin), Ireland (Irel) or England (Eng). If the qualification was awarded by the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow the letters following the qualification will be RCPS. Other qualifications may have the location of the awarding university after them in abbreviated form, eg Birmingham will be 'Birm' and Newcastle will be 'Ncle', etc.
Non-registerable qualifications and letters
Many letters may be found after a dentist's name which are not permitted to be registered after the dentist's name in the Dental Register. These qualification must not be used when communicating with a patient or on a plaque at the front of the dentist's surgery.
With qualifications such as those in Law (MA, LLB) or in Forensic Odontology they are not of direct relevance to clinical dental practice. They are, however, proof of a dentist's knowledge in the legal aspects of dental practice.
The Diploma in Forensic Odontology (DipFOd) is a postgraduate university qualification which is awarded after a one year period of study and the passing of a final examination and dissertation. These dentists have been trained in both the forensic side of dentistry, such as post mortem victim identification and bite mark evidence, as well as being specifically trained in the preparation of dental medico legal reports and court appearances. Dentists with such dento-legal qualifications can save a good deal of hassle for the solicitor as they will already have a proven working knowledge of the medico legal process and of what is expected of them from both the courts and the solicitor.
Other qualifications are not registered because they offer no evidence of the attainment of any particular standards and the dentists have not been examined or assessed by an authorised body. These can include the so-called 'Mail Order Qualifications'. An example is the Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (FRSM). This looks very grand on a dental expert's CV but to obtain it involves little more than the payment of a subscription. The GDC does not permit the use of such qualifications in a dentist's clinical practice.
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